Brennan Johnson believes it is a huge achievement for Tottenham Hotspur to emerge with a clean sheet against Manchester City, and has given us some insight into the changes that Thomas Frank has implemented at Spurs.
Tottenham produced some impressive performances under Ange Postecoglou, especially in his first season in charge, but they struggled to keep clean sheets under the Australian.
That is why Spurs fans are delighted with the fact that the side has started the Premier League campaign with two successive clean sheets.
The visitors exhibited a level of defensive control that travelling sides seldom do at the Etihad, managing to keep their pponents at arm’s length for the majority of the encounter of Tottenham’s 2-0 win over City.
Brennan Johnson says Thomas Frank respects defending
However, it was certainly not a case of Spurs just defending deep with men behind the ball the whole game, with Tottenham not being afraid to press Man City high up the pitch.
Thomas Frank has spoken about wanting Tottenham to be balanced in all phases of play, and Johnson has revealed that the Dane stresses defensive solidity while also giving his players the freedom to take risks going forward.
When asked about the differences between Frank and Ange Postecoglou, the Wales international told TNT Sports: “Nothing massively. Two different coaches. Really enjoying it, and a lot of detail goes into the set-pieces, but at the same time, he gives us a lot of attacking freedom.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“So, we have a really good balance. He respects defending and wants us to be hard to beat. In the first few games, we have kept two clean sheets, and against Man City, it is not easy. I have played here a lot of times and conceded a lot of goals.”
Johnson claims Tottenham delivered a perfect performance against Man City
Tottenham fans would have expected the home side to pepper their goal with shots at some stage in the second half as they were looking to get themselves back into the game.
However, that phase never came, with the away side looking very comfortable and also continuing to pose a threat on the counter-attack.