To kick off Saturday’s Premier League fixtures, Manchester United played host to Tottenham Hotspur in what turned out to be a physical affair. Cristian Romero’s straight red card after 29 minutes for a nasty tackle on Casemiro was the key talking point of the game. The question was, could United make it count? Against Everton under Ruben Amorim, United couldn’t capitalise on playing against 10 men. With a 2-0 win, with both goals coming after the sending off, it’s safe to say that they did capitalise on having the numerical advantage.
Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur: Three Things We learnt
Just 10 minutes after the red card, Bryan Mbuemo passed the ball into the corner of the goal from a well-worked set-piece routine. The home side would go on to score a further two goals; however, both would be deemed offside. After the red card for Spurs, their attacking intent was non-existent, notching just a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
After a triple substitution from Thomas Frank on 80 minutes, it appeared that Spurs were going to go for it. Almost instantly following those subs, Diogo Dalot whipped in a cross to his countryman, Bruno Fernandes, to shin in past Guglielmo Vicario to make it 2-0.
The game finished 2-0 to the Red Devils, and their revival under Michael Carrick continues. Following the game at Old Trafford, we look at three things learnt
Manchester United still must address a key issue when replacing Casemiro in their midfield in the summer. The entire back four, as well as the two deeper midfielders, lack pace, and against Tottenham, it was evident early on.
Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw are not blessed with blistering pace, and more often than not, Spurs’ wide men were able to have success against the wide defenders. Harry Maguire and Casemiro have never been quick and have always struggled against pacey players, and again, this was exposed against Spurs in the first half an hour. Pape Sarr and Conor Gallagher caused issues running off Casemiro. Kobbie Mainoo is an amazing talent; however, like his midfield partner, he isn’t quick.
Following Romero’s red card, this became less of an issue as Tottenham fell back into a low block, reacting to going a man down.
When United play Lenny Yoro or Ayden Heaven at centre-half, they have more pace in the defence and therefore can play a higher line. With the current back four, they have to drop a few yards deeper in order to combat their lack of pace.
In the summer, a quick defensive midfielder and a more nimble, pacey centre-back could be on United’s wish list.
Read More: Casemiro’s Potential Replacements
After 37 games and a 36.11% win rate, Thomas Frank is under immense pressure. The Tottenham Hotspur boss is without a Premier League win since December and has only put two wins together on the bounce once during his tenure at Spurs.
Still considered a ‘big club’, Tottenham should be competing for the top six, not struggling around the bottom half of the table, considering the size of their support and stadium. Last season, they finished 17th, but had the silver lining of winning the Europa League. This season, despite doing well in the Champions League, their league form has been woeful. They’re five points off the top 10 as it stands and 11 points off the top five. They are also out of the League Cup and the FA Cup.
If those in charge at Spurs want to gain anything from this season, it may be time to pull the trigger sooner rather than later.
The fluid front four of Manchester United has been deadly since Carrick came in as interim boss. Playing two wide midfielders, with a deeper forward, has caused issues for the last four teams United. Whether it’s Patrick Dorgu or Matheus Cunha on the left, Mbuemo up front and Amad Diallo on the right, they don’t have a set, strict position.
Often, Bruno Fernandes is the highest United player during the press; however, in recent weeks, he’s done so with much more discipline than he did under Ruben Amorim. He often takes up positions where the traditional ‘forwards’ would usually be, making it hard for the opposition defenders to track his runs.
With each of the front three players more than capable of playing in each of the three attacking positions, they often interchange and make it extremely difficult to defend against. No one is rigid; every player is on the same page, and it’s paying dividends for Michael Carrick’s Reds.
Throughout today’s game, Cunha and Mbuemo would switch positions, and Amad would often see himself in a false nine position. When out-and-out striker Benjamin Sesko came on as a substitute for Cunha, Mbeumo switched to play on the left, with Sesko going up front. This shows that the fluid nature and versatility of United’s forwards work in a number of different systems.
Manchester United will look to make it five wins in a row when they travel to West Ham United on Tuesday night.
Featured image courtesy of Imago/ Andrew Yates Sportimage