Pochettino Continues to Work on Improved Defence as Tottenham See off Watford

With half of the Premier League season completed, Tottenham Hotspur conclude 2015 as the division's stingiest defence.

Odion Ighalo's goal for Watford in Tottenham's 2-1 victory over the Hornets was just the 15th time Mauricio Pochettino's side have conceded in league play. Clean sheets in their preceding two games saw them take on the mantle after the division's previously meanest defences, Arsenal and Manchester United, both shipped goals in corresponding losses.

For the trip to Vicarage Road, Pochettino changed things at the back to a degree not seen up until now in the current campaign (not via a pre-emptive alteration at least). Far from allowing it to rest on its laurels, he is still looking at ways to improve this Spurs back line.

Pictured above celebrating Heung-Min Son's stoppage-time winner (Erik Lamela had scored the opener earlier after 17 minutes), the team spirit at Tottenham appears in good shape right now.

Togetherness among the team is something Pochettino certainly continues to emphasise, and once again last week, used to credit his side's greater solidity in 2015-16.

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"We work very hard altogether and now we are more solid from the first striker to the ‘keeper," the head coach said in his pre-Norwich City press conference. "Always it’s about the quality of the effort when you don’t have the ball and hard work."

Yet even the most "musketeer" of spirits would matter little if the rearguard could not hold its own. Thankfully for Pochettino (and naturally in large part because of), his defence has been excellent this season.

Confident the consistency provided by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and regular centre-back duo Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen would maintain sufficient stability, the Argentinian broke from the norm for Watford.

In an attempt to negate the threat of their front-pair Ighalo and Troy Deeney, holding midfielder Eric Dier joined Alderweireld and Vertonghen in forming a central defensive trio. Either side of them, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier came in to perform wing-back duties that might have been too strenuous an ask for Ben Davies and Kyle Walker just a couple of days on from their shifts in the win over Norwich City.

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"Sometimes you analyse an opponent and how they create problems to other teams," Pochettino told Tottenham's official website, citing his reasons for the alterations. "Liverpool play possession of the ball but the way Watford play is to always find a striker and create problems from there."

In addition to outnumbering Deeney and Ighalo in those moments, Pochettino evidently also hoped the robust Dier's presence would help quell the strong, direct approach of Quique Sanchez Flores' team.

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Anyone just watching the game's highlights and seeing how Ighalo so decidedly got the better of Dier for Watford's goal may assume the changes failed.

Alderweireld and Vertonghen mistakenly assumed their team-mate had dealt with the initial ball in and, opting not to cover in anticipation of a lost duel, could not intervene in time.

This would do a disservice to Watford's formidable attack. In the opening hour, Spurs' defence did good work in restricting opportunities for a team who scored 11 in the process of securing 13 points from their preceding five games. Ighalo in particular is in outstanding scoring form right now (see above).

Bar the goal, the centre-backs largely covered well for each other and—supported by midfielders Tom Carroll and Mousa Dembele—allowed Rose and Trippier ample license to get forward. Their biggest problem was inviting danger onto themselves and losing the ball trying to play forward rather than clear their lines.

The dramatic veering of the game's flow after Nathan Ake's 63rd-minute dismissal would eventually leave them needing to switch into siege-mentality mode, however.

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Watford's realisation that Spurs' attempts to break down their reduced barricades behind the ball were not working led to them pushing forward in attack.

Capitalising on frustration-enduced fouls from the now flagging visitors, they bombarded Lloris' box with crosses and set-plays (four of their five corners came in the final 10 minutes of normal play, per BBC Sport).

Spurs received a lucky break when their captain just managed to stop a Ben Watson corner from going in and were then provided timely relief by Son's winner, assisted by one of the energetic Trippier's nine crosses on the day. Still, there were also some commendable individual contributions stopping the late assaults on their goal.

Dier blocked a goal-bound Valon Behrami shot that was as beautiful as Son's exquisitely finished winner. Vertonghen stood up well to the physical and persistent Ighalo, hounding him across the pitch's breadth.

This defensive performance was not flawless, but as a representation of the greater focus and toughness of this group right now—positively not affected by the changes as they were in cup losses to Arsenal and Anderlecht this season—it was a fine one indeed.

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At this point a year ago, Tottenham had let in 24. Their goal difference was worse off too, standing at zero compared to the plus-18 it is after 19 games now.

Despite finishing 2014 with one of their better defensive displays of the year—holding Manchester United to a 0-0 draw—struggles would ensue in the following months as Pochettino dealt with injuries and erratic form. A period entirely in keeping with the inconsistency that had plagued the position at the club for a few years prior.

In his establishing of the Alderweireld-Vertonghen partnership and mostly smart use of his full-backs, Pochettino has engineered a vast improvement here. Against Watford, he reiterated he is far from done in looking to make them even better moving forward.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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