Has Jose Mourinho improved Tottenham defensively or is he losing his special touch?

When Tottenham fired Mauricio Pochettino at the end of November one of the major reasons was their leaky defence.

A remarkable 17 goals were conceded in 12 games this season under the Argentine before his dismissal.

Jose Mourinho was the man chosen to replace Pochettino – a man with a reputation for formidable back lines.

But the ball continues to find the back of the net against Spurs, which will be a worry against a resurgent Watford on Saturday – a match you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT.

Even in the FA Cup third-round replay against Middlesbrough, a tame shot from George Saville beat Paulo Gazzaniga, leaving Mourinho’s side with just one clean sheet since he took over.

The 5-0 thrashing of Burnley promised plenty but was just a false dawn as the Portuguese works out the kinks in his squad.

Still, when it comes to the very basic statistics, Mourinho does have a better record than Pochettino right now – just.

Under the Argentine, Tottenham were conceding 1.53 goals per game, whereas under Mourinho this has dropped to 1.5.

It’s an improvement, but not much of one, although on the surface it’s a little better under Mourinho than it might look.

Across their past six matches Spurs have only conceded more than one goal once – with two, due to individual errors, coming against Norwich.

It’s still not perfect, but perhaps a sign things are getting better in north London.

The reason? Well, Mourinho’s men now have now had more time on the training pitch and in the analysis room to get across his ideas.

He said himself their week off in late December, when others were in Carabao Cup action, would be their chance to get fully acquainted with his tactics.

It’s no coincidence things have begun to pick up, although performances against Chelsea, Brighton, and Norwich can’t be ignored.

Against Liverpool, despite Tottenham being on the back foot, the Premier League champions-elect had less shots than Spurs (13 to the hosts 14), and got seven on target – a sign of improvement for sure.

And underlying stats suggest things are looking better, too.

Once upon a time, their back line was the envy of most teams in England and Europe with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen superb at centre-back, while Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were aggressive marauding full-backs.

Now, though, with central midfield problems meaning a lack of a shield ahead of them, no adequate like-for-like Walker replacement, and the ageing of the trio he once lined up alongside, Spurs are struggling.

Davinson Sanchez has failed to improve adequately enough and continues to struggle aerially, as showcased again in the FA Cup third-round replay with Middlesbrough.

Juan Foyth’s error against Norwich will surely see him sent on loan for the rest of the season too, while a similar fate awaits Kyle Walker-Peters who was starved of chances under Pochettino.

Now, though, Japhet Tanganga has emerged. It would be foolish to get too excited but an intelligent front-foot centre-back with the pace to recover promises further improvement under Mourinho.

For now the Portuguese boss will take things step by step but, for the moment at least, he’s making a difference.

Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network, including Watford vs Tottenham at 12:30pm