Why Tottenham vs Manchester United was one of the worst games in Premier League history
Towards the end of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, with the game still in the balance, both Brennan Johnson and Patrick Dorgu lost theirs. The two players careered into each other, leaving them both on the floor.
It was a moment to sum up what must have been one of the worst Premier League matches ever played, relative to the cost of both squads. This isn’t to criticise either player, or any of the players, or even the managers.
It is just the peculiar context that both clubs find themselves in, with the match preceded by a Spurs supporters protest against the ownership. Their team at least got a win that matters more to them, with Ange Postecoglou talking about how “it was important for us” (and certainly for him). But it’s hard to know what any of it means for United. Maybe nothing. That’s what the season has become.
Their Premier League campaign is another write-off, perhaps worse than 2021-22 and the most pronounced since 1988-89. Sir Alex Ferguson’s early United finished 11th that season, with a mere 45 goals in 38 games. Right now, it’s 15th and 28 in 25. This defeat was actually the 10th game in the Premier League that United haven’t scored in. That’s 40 per cent of their matches.
You can see why Ruben Amorim wanted to come at the end of the season rather than midway through it. “My job is so hard,” he said, after United’s 12th defeat of the league campaign.
It has been said on these pages before, but there’s an argument to just totally write the campaign off and use it positively as preparation for next term.
It’s hard not to think like that when the situation has somehow got worse. Having necessarily reduced the numbers in their squad over the transfer window despite badly needing reinforcements, United now have both Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo injured for lengthy spells. Amad, who has been one of the few sources of hope this season, is now expected to miss the rest of it. Amorim spoke hopefully that Mainoo may only miss weeks rather than months.
Postecoglou naturally expanded on this theme after the game, saying he could empathise – but, tellingly, not sympathise.
“I could see Ruben there, players out of position, kids on the bench... welcome to my world,” Postecoglou said. “But that’s for one game. Do that for two months. Do that for two months. And that’s anyone.”
The Spurs manager then insisted such injury crises could affect anyone. Little doubt about where Postecoglou was pinning responsibility for this. He was pointing to the calendar, rather than issues with any individual club or managerial approach.
“What’s happened to us is going to happen to other clubs,” Postecoglou said, “and it’s coming.”
Here, James Maddison coming back from injury proved decisive, as he scored the game’s only goal. It had all the more resonance since Roy Keane had made headlines this week for strident criticism of the playmaker. Maddison made play of that in his celebration, referencing the darts that had been brought up and “shushing” the noise.
Keane might well counter that this was a match between 13th and 14th, rather than a game of any great significance to the Premier League table.
It wasn’t really like the goal was a product of exemplary attacking play, either. United were getting caught out by wide balls, Son Heung Min swung a cross back and then Andre Onana spilled a shot at Maddison’s feet.
The playmaker did well to be there, which you could say was important given that mere presence – literally being there on the pitch – was such a crucial differential.
It otherwise stood out because the game was mostly defined by low-quality attacking cancelling out low-quality defending. There was so much space, but no one really had the quality to do much with it.
Most of the more memorable shots seemed to fly waywardly over the bar rather than even test the goalkeepers. Hence another defining moment featured Joshua Zirkzee missing a volley completely at the back post. As with Johnson and Dorgu, though, this isn’t to single out Zirkzee.
The Dutch forward actually offered most of United’s more productive moments, and you could see how he would be a useful option – especially as a link player – in a good team. In a team like this, though, it’s just too much responsibility to bear. The same with Rasmus Hojlund, and even Alejandro Garnacho.
It’s almost unfair on them, and raises such questions about the club’s recruitment over the past two to three years.
And yet what can the manager do? Performances like this will inevitably bring more scrutiny on Amorim, as people reasonably start to point out the bare facts. In his time, United have become worse. Some selection decisions have been baffling.
That would be a superficial reading, though. The truth is that United, as a club, had bottomed out. A series of bad decisions left them at a point where everything now just needs to be rebuilt.
It’s why this season’s games almost have to be used as tactical building blocks. Hence it doesn’t feel as damning that Amorim doesn’t offer more pragmatism for individual games like this, when injuries are so bad. Casemiro, for one, need not have been so tactically exposed.
Amorim himself understandably dodged a question on whether this campaign should almost be seen as an extended pre-season. He can’t afford to let his players think like that, after all, and he still has two cup competitions to try and win. That is something else that’s reminiscent of the 1980s or early 1990s.
Amorim did admit United are in a kind of “survival” mode, where it is just about seeking to improve individual aspects for the next game.
It instead feels like purgatory. A lot of this match was the same.
There’s not even much to read into it. This doesn’t tell us anything meaningful about Amorim’s capacity to manage United, because this just isn’t what United should be or anything like his idealised team.
This is the point about preparing for next season.
The problem with such idealising is that the reality of it is extremely grim. It’s also where clubs do have to look to the bigger picture. It's where they have to show patience, and a bit of nerve.
Postecoglou may empathise with that, too. He can now hope that Spurs have come through their own crisis, as players return and they claim successive Premier League wins for the first time since November. They got through it.
Many who watched this game might feel the same. It was not, as the saying goes, an advertisement for the Premier League. It was instead a showcase of wider issues, from ownership to the calendar.
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