How Ange Postecoglou changed his Tottenham tactics to beat Brentford

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Tottenham Hotspur secured their second win of the season as they comfortably saw off Brentford on Saturday afternoon winning 3-1.

The Bees took a very early lead through Bryan Mbeumo who netted after just 26 seconds with Ange Postecoglou’s team looking set for a long afternoon.

However, Spurs produced an emphatic response and for the remainder, it was just one-way traffic towards Mark Flekken’s goal.

Dominic Solanke grabbed the equaliser to bag his first goal for the club, and Brennan Johnson gave the hosts the lead as he again got on the scoresheet before James Maddison later wrapped up the three points.

It was arguably Tottenham’s best performance of the season as they managed to turn their dominance of possession into goals with Postecoglou making two important changes to his tactics.

Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro’s tweaked role vs Brentford

Postecoglou made a key tweak to his full-backs as Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro both played in wider areas of the pitch.

A key feature of the Aussie’s tactics has seen his full-backs look to invert and effectively play in midfield. Udogie had undoubtedly his best performance since returning from injury against Brentford and looked far more comfortable operating in wider areas.

Wider full-backs also saw Tottenham look less open. The Italian made three interceptions, five tackles, he won seven out of 10 ground duels and two out of three aerial duels.

Another winner from the tweak was Maddison, who had more room to operate in the midfield as Udogie was no longer taking up the same areas.

James Maddison’s new midfield position helps Heung-min Son

Maddison was the best player on the pitch against Brentford and his performance was key in helping the Lilywhites to dominate the visitors.

The 27-year-old featured in a deeper role on the left with Dejan Kulusevski playing just ahead of him. As mentioned, Udogie not consuming the ground Maddison was looking to cover allowed the England international to thrive.

The midfielder managed 87 touches, a pass accuracy of 87 per cent, he made three key passes and created one big chance as he ran the show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.