Ben Davies has heaped praise on Ryan Mason for the impact he has had since taking over, admitting that the players are benefiting from the clarity that the interim head coach has offered.
Spurs might only have four points to show from the three matches they have played under Mason but there has been a clear improvement going forward, with the Lilywhites fashioning plenty of chances in all three games.
Davies remarked that the 31-year-old took over during a challenging time and has managed to instil belief into the squad that they can express themselves going forward while also being compact without the ball.
The Welshman told Football.London: “It’s not the easiest situation to come into. We’ve got a limited amount of games so it’s hard for him to come in and completely change things and do it his own way.
“But there’s been a clear message that we need to be as good as we can with the ball and tighten it up without it.
“It’s pretty basic but that’s the way we’ve been training and working. Ryan’s instilled that belief in us that we’re able to do that.”
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The Palace game was the first one for which Mason had a full week to prepare the squad and it showed as he was able to make some big tactical tweaks to the side.
Davies said about the tight schedule: “Whenever you get a chance to work on the training pitch, especially with the schedules we have in the season now, it’s not too often we get a lot of days on the pitch.
“Now we get to spend two or three days during the week where we actually go through some shape ideas, see what works and what doesn’t, and try and show our best selves out on the pitch.”
Tottenham’s interim coach set the team up to defend with a back four but attack with three at the back against the Eagles, with Davies pushing higher up to become a wing-back in possession.
When asked about the tactical tweak, the 29-year-old said: “Spot on. That’s what we looked to do in the game.
“I think we were pretty solid. We didn’t really give them any clear-cut chances.
“It was a case of we’ve actually still managed to score goals but we’ve been shipping them.
“Keep the way we’re going with the ball but without it just to go about things a different way, and I think it worked well.”
Spurs Web Opinion
What has impressed me the most about Mason is his maturity to understand that he cannot change things overnight and to start from a position of tactical familiarity with the squad.
The 31-year-old has slowly but surely been tweaking the system with each game to bring it closer to his idea of playing football and I am interested to see what he does differently in the final three games of the campaign.
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