Brendan Rodgers has backed Jose Mourinho after his style of play came under attack by some pundits and fans.
The Portuguese manager sets his team up to make judicious use of their limited possession to counter-attack teams and beat them.
They allow their opponents to have almost all of the ball, but when they gain possession, they make it count.
They have been through games when they rarely see the ball, yet they win those matches.
Some fans, who have been used to Tottenham playing a possession-based attacking football under Mauricio Pochettino, haven’t enjoyed the new style even though it is bringing results.
Rodgers instead praised Mourinho for getting his players to adapt to his new style of play after they have been used to playing a different way.
He said that the football might not be enjoyable, but it is bringing victories, and he is sure that the Tottenham fans will enjoy the results.
Asked whether there was a snobbery in England about defensive football, he said via Mail Online: ‘Yes, I think there is. As you get more experienced, you learn to respect the different ways of winning games.
‘I see now the Jose I knew at Chelsea for the first time in a long time. I see a guy who really believes. He has top-class players who have clearly bought into the way he is working.
‘Tottenham are renowned for playing a stylistic type of football but I am sure the supporters will be happy with the results.
‘To ask players who are really talented to sometimes control the game without the ball is a challenge. Most top players want to have the ball. So that’s a skill in itself, to coach and manage players that there is a different way and teach them that by playing this other way it’s possible to get a result. At Tottenham, that is what you see. They have bought into it.’