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Manchester United welcomed Tottenham Hotspurs on Monday Night, well aware of the fact that only a win could lift the mood at Old Trafford. United had started the season brightly with a hard-fought win against Leicester, but they were very poor against Brighton, losing the game 3-2. Spurs, on the other hand, were riding high on a positive start so far, winning both of their opening games.
Jose Mourinho made six changes to the side that lost to Brighton. De Gea continued in goal, but Valencia started his first game of the season, replacing Young at right back. Bailly and Lindelof were replaced by Smalling and Jones. Shaw was the only defender to start all three United games this season so far.
In the middle, Jose welcomed back his trusted Lieutenant Matic and the energetic Ander Herrera, to provide much-needed steel in the middle of the park. Fred and Pogba retained their places, as did Lukaku, but Lingard replaced Mata. Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Rashford started from the bench.
Pochettino made two changes to the team that beat Fulham last weekend. Rose replaced Sanchez, and Dembele replaced Davies.
United showed great intent and determination right from the start of the game and Fred almost scored in the first minute. The rest of the half was intensely competitive, with United coming on top regularly. United should have scored when Lukaku picked up on a horrible back pass from Rose and rounded Lloris, but strangely missed the open goal!
Spurs could have had a penalty of their own when Jones attempted a clumsy challenge on Moura. Ultimately, the game went to the break with the scores at 0-0.
United started the second half strong, but Spurs went ahead with a brilliant Kane header. Eriksen then found acres of space on the right side and set up Moura to double the score within two minutes of the first goal. Mourinho switched back to a back two, put on Sanchez in place of Herrera, put on Fellaini in place of Matic, but there was little difference to United's overall performance.
Moura added a third late in the game, brushing aside Smalling’s challenge like he wasn’t even there. Spurs won the game 3-0 and the defeat put up a lot of questions around Old Trafford.
Amid all the uncertainty surrounding his future now, there were four mistakes by Mourinho in the game that ultimately led to United’s second defeat in two games.
#4 Deploying Herrera as the third CB
While there were talks before the game of Matic starting as the third center back, it was, in fact, Herrera who slid in alongside Jones and Smalling. He started as the right center back, was very clever with his pressing and held his position well, but did get caught out a few times on the Spurs counter.
He also enabled Valencia to play a very attacking role down the right as a wingback. His clever positioning allowed him to intercept Tottenham’s counter and he brilliantly blocked a Dele Alli shot when the Spurs man seemed caught the United defense all over the place.
However, his deployment created a bit of confusion among Smalling and Jones that was evident in the first half as well. Valencia was unsure of when to track back and there were often lots of spaces for Tottenham to exploit.
Even though Herrera was not culpable for the goals, Mourinho’s intentions for putting a center midfielder on the right side of a 3 man defense were not clear.
Even if the Portuguese had some plans, it did not materialize and as such, he would have been better advised to not experiment in such a big game.
#3 Completly changing his Centerback pairing before an important game
Jose has done little to settle his defense. While it is true that he does not have too many options, taking out Bailly completely from the match was a big mistake. He went with Smalling and Jones and although they were decent in the first half, Jones was completely at fault for the Kane goal.
There was no covering for Luke Shaw from Jones before the second goal, which saw Eriksen jog to the right with all the time in the world, and when you give a player of his qualities the time and space to impact a game, he generally punishes you. Eriksen found Moura free in the box, the United defense was all over the place again and the Brazilian scored.
Jones’ injury added further woes and Mourinho had to draft in Lindelof in a hurry. Smalling and Lindelof showed no signs of any partnership and the Swede almost gifted Alli a goal before a brilliant De Gea bailed him out.
Every time Spurs went forward, they looked like they would score. Smalling surrendered himself to Moura before the end of the game, who move past his challenge with ease and scored Spur's third.
In Mourinho's defense, the Portuguese desperately wanted to add a defender in the summer. It seems the United team are hell-bent on showing the board why.
#2 Plan B - Fellaini
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Only in Manchester United, when the going gets tough, bring on Fellaini. When you are two goals down, bring on Fellaini. Not your 20-year-old attacking player, with bundles of pace, no Sir, we do not do that under Jose Mourinho.
What did Fellaini do? Fellaini did what Fellaini usually does. He jogged around, knocked a few people down, had no idea where to play and he allowed Trippier, a man half his size, to pull him down in the penalty box. Those who saw his dive to in the penalty box will admit that it was one of the most pathetic attempts to hog a penalty in a football field.
Mourinho’s actions have sometimes been questionable, but he really outdid himself against Spurs. He took off Herrera, put on Alexis Sanchez, and returned to a back two. He then took off Matic, his holding midfielder and put on Fellaini.
To the average viewer, it would look like Matic, starting in his first game of the season, was not fit for the whole game, so why not let Herrera take the holding position and let Sanchez replace Matic? Why not put on Rashford for Lingard?
Mourinho’s stubborn reliance on Fellaini, who constantly contributes nothing to a game of football, keeps hurting United - his Plan B is not a plan at all.
#1 Alexis Sanchez from the Bench
For the most important game of the season so far, Mourinho kept his best player on the bench. Without the presence of Sanchez, the United midfield missed a vital piece of the jigsaw.
Every time Luke Shaw bombarded forward, he showed the possibilities down the left. Mourinho was ultra defensive in a home game and it was a horrible strategy that cost United three points.
Sanchez had a strong preseason, he was United’s best player in the United States. It is only logical that he features for the most important games for United. With Lukaku alone in attack and Lingard busy pressing Dembele, United had to rely on the speed and precision of their forward players.
The speed was there, the precision not so much. Had Sanchez been in the mix, he could have made things pretty interesting. However, it could also be that the Chilean was not completely fit and in that case, Jose should have gone with Rashford.
Lukaku started strong but missed a sitter in the first half. It was the unholy start that would come back to haunt the Belgian and United in the end. He missed a host of chances in the game and should have scored at least two.
It does seem that the Belgian is short of confidence or maybe he has the weight of the whole team on his shoulders, which is why Sanchez is so important to the team
United have never been defensive at Old Trafford and more than Sanchez’s absence, it was Mourinho’s tactics that ultimately led to this humiliating defeat.
