'What people are telling me': Alasdair Gold claims Ange has now reintroduced Conte tactic at Spurs

Tottenham bagged their first win of the season last time out against Everton, as Ange Postecoglou’s side ran out as 4-0 winners in the Premier League.

Of course, getting your first win under your belt is huge for Tottenham, but what will be even more pleasing for Ange Postecoglou is the fact his side kept a clean sheet.

Jamie Carragher told Spurs they needed to improve defensively towards the end of last season, and it already appears as if things are heading in the right direction this season.

There was one defender in particular who played a big part in this against Everton, as Ian Wright praised Micky van de Ven for his all-round display and build-up to a goal.

However, there was one other aspect of Spurs’ game that has changed since last season…

Ange Postecoglou switches back to Antonio Conte’s set-piece tactic

One big change that Spurs made off the field this summer was to add Sergio Raimundo and Nick Montgomery to Postecoglou’s coaching staff ahead of the new campaign.

And, one of the things that have been improved since the arrival of the pair, which isn’t mentioned above is set-pieces.

This was something Alasdair Gold noticed in his latest video on his YouTube channel, as he stated.

“I also think the defending has been a lot better from set pieces. I looked at it quite closely, it’s almost like a hybrid, zonal/man marking thing now.

“It felt at times last season it was really stuck in the zonal thing, which wasn’t working for them, but this feels more like a hybrid thing, with some players starting to man mark and some players zonal marking. I think, unless I’m mistaken, is how Spurs used to mark under Conte.

“I think that was how it worked with them as well and it feels like they’ve maybe gone back to that. I could be wrong, they may have been doing that all last season, but it certainly feels like it’s not just a pure zonal thing. And that asking around, seems to be backed up with what people are telling me.”

Spurs can’t get ahead of themselves now

The Lilywhites have played against arguably two of the weakest sides in the top-flight, so to jump to conclusions at this stage would be silly, with plenty of crunch matches to come.

It’s all good being pleased with the changes and progress made in the set-pieces department, but that wasn’t the only issue Postecoglou encountered last season. Jan Vertonghen was shocked at Spurs’ high line, which saw them concede goals with ease at times and ruined their top four chances.

The defeat to Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium springs to mind as one that was heavily influenced by the high line, but we’ve seen little evidence so far that Ange is about to change his ways.

However, the players are fully aware of what Ange expects of them now and how his sides operate, so to see minor tweaks being done off the field is certainly a positive.