FINALLY: Three Tottenham players send a message to Matty Cash, including the Ben Davies moment that irritated Ange Postecoglou.

Here are five things we noticed during Sunday afternoon’s 2-1 Premier League loss between Tottenham and Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A daring strategy

The majority of Tottenham supporters were definitely taken aback when Ange Postecoglou revealed the team’s lineup at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. Despite having a severe lack of center backs, the manager made some bold decisions in his selection to play Aston Villa, starting Eric Dier on the bench. The manager was already without a number of players due to injury and suspension.

Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, who is back, took up full-back duties, while Emerson Royal started in place of the defender and joined Ben Davies in the middle of the backline. It was a risky move to start four full-backs in defense, two of whom are very attacking ones, and it took many by surprise.

Up the field, there was going to be another surprise when Bryan Gil entered the starting lineup for Tottenham for the first time since January. Due to the Spaniard’s introduction and the requirement to inject some originality into the midfield, Dejan Kulusevski moved down to the No. 10 position, where he collaborated with Rodrigo Bentancur and Giovani Lo Celso.

Given Aston Villa’s recent form and the number of goals they had scored, many were concerned about Tottenham’s aggressive lineup. Nonetheless, Spurs controlled the action and put their opponents to the test repeatedly with some very impressive attacking play that left them repeatedly exposed.

Spurs should have scored more goals than just the one they got in the first half thanks to Lo Celso’s brilliant attacking play. Despite starting with four full-backs in defense, Tottenham wasn’t particularly troubled at the other end of the field because the majority of the ball was in and around the Aston Villa area.

Given their ability to outscore their opponents, Tottenham’s attack is currently their strongest defensive strategy. Converting the opportunities that present themselves is the only problem.

READ MORE: Aston Villa vs. Tottenham player ratings In defeat, Porro, Lo Celso, and Kulusevski impress.

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou makes a risky move against Aston Villa that resolves Tottenham’s current problem

A message from Ange to Davies

As soon as the referee blew his whistle, there was chaos because both teams had exchanged chances early on. Within the first three minutes, Tottenham created two very good openings: Udogie lifted the ball over the crossbar, and Kulusevski, following some deft footwork in the box, saw his effort strike the post.

Postecoglou wasn’t too happy with Davies’ performance in the first few minutes and wanted his team to be ahead early on. As they attempted to develop attacks and really trouble Villa, the Welshman felt that the ball should be moved more quickly because he was taking too long with it.

From the sidelines, the Australian made it very evident that the seasoned center back needed to get his teammates food much more quickly. It was a message he immediately internalized.