What Ryan Mason told the press about Tottenham’s second half performance in 3-1 Brentford defeat

Tottenham caretaker boss Ryan Mason saw his side lose for the fifth time in seven games but says their alarming drop in performance was down to a new way of working at the club.

Spurs have moved on from playing a three-at-the-back to a four-at-back with Mason and even though the football has improved the results haven’t.

The defeat to Brentford highlighted their seasonal struggles where they started the game well, dominated, and got their goal before totally collapsing in the second half and allowing their visitors to go home with all three points.

Asked what could be the cause of that, Mason said: “Maybe a combination of different things. We were probably asking them to do something they haven’t done for a while, in terms of playing a higher line and being a little bit more front foot.

“To do that for 90, 95 minutes, you probably need to train it for a consistent amount of time, which we haven’t had. I thought there were lots of positives in the first half, I certainly took a lot of positives.

“I know we will see the result, absolutely, because that is ultimately what it’s all about. But the first half, the courage, the intensity, the bravery that we played with, and without the ball, I thought it was a very positive first half. But like I say again, it’s just one half of football, you have to do it for the whole game.”

Spurs will now travel to relegation-threatened Leeds United on the final day of the season hoping to avoid back-to-back defeats that will bring down the curtains on what has been a challenging season.