And so, respite for the Red Devils. Manchester United needed a response after last week’s, to put it mildly, disastrous showing against bitter rivals Liverpool on their own turf. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they got one, in three folds, as they found their way back on track. But while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side earned themselves a win and the manager a reprieve, it was as much a deserved victory as it was a result that Spurs absolutely merited, in the worst way possible.
Manchester United were much improved, without a doubt. But that was partly due to the fact that it was almost impossible to play worse than – or even as bad as – they did against Liverpool. Early on, the intent was there. Harry Maguire thrust himself into a tackle early on, Fred tested Hugo Lloris with a long-range piledriver, while Edinson Cavani had a few chances, before eventually scoring his first goal of the season. But this was against a weak and timid Spurs team.
The boos that met the full-time whistle at the end were as palpable as they were telling. There was no hiding from it, the Spurs fans, and everyone else, had just watched a dishevelled performance from the hosts. Another game in which Spurs tried nothing and stopped because nothing didn’t work. Yet another display in which Harry Kane looked like a passenger, and a man still stung from not being able to join their immediate opponents’ city rivals. Spurs had no shots on target in 93 minutes, the last time they failed to do that on home soil, Tim Sherwood would be appointed as manager not long after.
It’s becoming a regular occurrence with Spurs under Nuno Espirito Santo. They’re not just passive, or reactive. They’re almost insignificant with their play, like there’s a lingering sense that it won’t really lead anywhere. A lot of Spurs’ football, on the attacking front, is a case of waiting for something to happen. There’s no thrust, no invention, no bite. Spurs had a handful of corners in the game, and asides the Cristian Romero effort that was ruled out, and the Ben Davies header over, much of it resulted in nothing.
Spurs’ game plan – if you could call it that – seems incredibly reliant on catching teams out, and when that doesn’t happen, they have nothing else. They leave themselves with too much to do, and yet never seem to be able to force the issue when they have to. Too many prospective attacks were undone by awful decision making, and/or terrible execution.
You could put this down to the fact that Spurs are still only ten league games under their new manager. But Spurs’ half-assed football isn’t so much a sign that things might get better, rather one of a team that doesn’t know what those things are. A lot has been made of Nuno’s appointment, and how his football is pretty much similar to predecessor Jose Mourinho, just the same plan by a more likeable man.
But during his time at Wolves, while the football was quite stodgy, and did get atrocious in its ember periods, there was still a plan. There was an attacking structure, however rigid it was. At Spurs, it seems like the play is to let all the players do what they’re good at – Giovani Lo Celso can run into the box with the ball, Heung-Min Son can run in behind, Kane can drop deep, Lucas Moura can beat a man – even at the detriment of any cohesion, almost exclusively at the detriment of cohesion. The attacking system is contradictory, and the players seem to be running into brick walls unassisted. There’s no plan to get the ball up front, and how to unlock teams.
So, as United sat deeper at the start of the second half, Spurs kept doing the same thing in attack; which was nothing, until they left themselves sorely vulnerable to breaks, and were deservedly punished. It is becoming something of a pattern with the club this good. When it’s good, there’s a lot of verve, desire, and energy, but no real cohesion or structure. When it’s bad, there’s nothing at all.
Just two years ago, Spurs were sitting at the table with the other teams, Manchester City, Liverpool, and the like. Now, they seem so far from it, it’s almost a mystery how they were ever there in the first place. Nuno stood like a helpless bystander against United, and as the cameras panned towards the Portuguese, questions should remain about the appointment. It’s not just about him, but mostly about how this managerial hire reeked of a club without a proper plan, who eventually had to settle for who they could get. A marriage of convenience that already looks to have run its race.
Tottenham have gone from potential challengers, to plucky outsiders, and now look like helpless also-rans, and as the fans booed and chanted in derision, they knew it.
Comments