Manchester United headed down to London and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a tricky opener against Wolves, where their performance had been so heavily criticised from all involved. Their task this time was to face off against a Tottenham side who are heading into a new era in their history, post-Harry Kane and in the Ange Postecoglou tenure. After a first weekend draw away at Brentford, many had praised their efforts, and with the home crowd giving the new manager and several new signings their full support, Manchester United had some task to overcome.

With the same issues in midfield being a key feature yet again for United, Spurs took advantage. After an open and balanced first half, Tottenham came out from the break fighting, while United crumbled after Pape Sarr put Tottenham ahead shortly into the second half. The loss was cemented in the last 10 minutes when Martinez deflected the ball into his own net when trying to clear a cross.

It was a game designed to answer all the criticisms of United in week 1, but instead made things seem much worse, as the midfield cannot get it together, the forwards look lacking and the defence are left looking leggy after doing most of the work.

With several key talking points coming from the game, many United fans won’t want to re-live this game, but there’s some key areas we need to dissect.

As always, if you have any thoughts on Manchester United this season or in this specific game, get in touch with us by leaving a comment, following us on Twitter/X (@NextGoalWinBlog) or Instagram (@NextGoalWin).

Teams

When the line ups were announced, for Tottenham they were entering into life without Harry Kane at home, so their squad was as expected in the most part. Several players were set to make their home debut for Spurs so all eyes were on the likes of Maddison and whether he could build on his impressive first performance the previous weekend, and also with Richarlison leading the line. Finally given the first choice striker spot, he is going to be heavily looked upon to replace the goals Harry Kane leaving loses for Tottenham, and after just 1 league goal last season, there is plenty of room for improvement.

For Manchester United, it was slightly surprising to see an unchanged squad from the win over Wolves, as they had looked leggy, overrun in midfield and lacking in attacking creativity. I had expected to see someone like Eriksen start instead of Mount, or even McTominay getting a run out. I had also expected to see Rashford put back out on the left to allow Sancho to step into the false-9 role he played heavily in pre-season, with Martial even potentially starting a game for the first time in what feels like forever.

In defence, aside from Wan-Bissaka or Dalot, the squad is as expected for most of this campaign, however the front 6 needs to be looked at for these big games especially where the midfield is being overrun and the game was lost in this fixture.

There was a small element of thinking that Ten Hag had even played the classic manager appealing to the board for funds move, as he went with 2 goalkeepers on the bench (1 of which clearly wants out), left Harry Maguire out with a small injury, left Van de Beek out of the squad, and the role of McTominay to not even get a cameo role. Whether he’s trying to communicate to the players themselves that they’re unwanted, or signalling to the board that they can’t even field a full bench without 2 keepers, this felt planned.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro (Royal 88′), Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie (Davies 70′), Sarr (Højbjerg 76′), Bissouma, Kulusevski (Solomon 88′), Maddison, Son, Richarlison (Perisic 70′)

Subs: Forster, Sanchez, Skipp, Lo Celso

Manchester United: Onana, Wan-Bissaka (Dalot 66′), Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Mount (Pellistri 85′), Fernandes, Garnacho (Eriksen 66′), Antony (Sancho 66′), Rashford (Martial 85′)

Subs: Henderson, Vitek, Lindelof, McTominay

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United

After an incredible reception for Tottenham in front of their home fans for the first time this season, they spurred the side on as the game got underway. In a first half filled with some decent chances for both sides, Bruno Fernandes missed a brilliant headed chance in front of goal that should have put United 1-0 up. Meanwhile, a potential handball against Romero wasn’t given and United couldn’t capitalise on their decent chances. There was a high press put on against Spurs’ defence who couldn’t seem to handle playing out with the ball, as Porro was often pressured into giving away the ball.

In the final few minutes before the break, Tottenham had their best moments of the half, as Son set up Porro to strike from inside the box, however he rattled his shot off the bar, with Sarr jumping on the rebound which was then deflected by Shaw onto the post. With 2 chances inches away from going in, they went in with momentum to half-time with the crowd having been revved up by the yellow card given to Antony for a challenge, and Fernandes for his protesting towards the referee.

Coming into the second half, it took just minutes for Spurs to break the deadlock. With Kulusevski’s cross deflected in the box, it landed for Pape Sarr who wandered into the box late and converted as the ball landed to him to give Spurs the lead. With Tottenham now ahead, United went missing, with a quick reaction of Antony hitting the post, they struggled to then get back into the game, with Spurs dominating the midfield, leading to changes at right back for United and then panic began to set in as United went back to long ball tactics to get Rashford involved and utilise the speed they have up top. Spurs read this easily however and in the 83rd minute, Perisic’s cross deflected off Davies and then Martinez in an attempt to clear it, edged the ball into his own goal. We then saw Martial and Pellistri enter the game as United went all-out, and while Martial still looks miles off the player her could be, Pellistri was lively in the final few minutes and certainly is deserving of a bigger role down the right for United.

As the final whistle blew, United were left feeling deflated and outplayed, while Spurs were rocking in front of their raucous crowd, and with Ange at the helm, they seem to be getting by just fine post-Harry Kane.

Talking Points

The midfield is once again the main talking point from this game, as we saw Casemiro-Mount-Fernandes given another chance, however this time Mount clearly had instructions to stay deeper and let Fernandes play the 10. This worked to an extent, however Mount is not a defensive midfielder, and you’re getting nothing from him by playing deeper. As a result, he was played out of the game for the most part, and just 2 games in, Casemiro seemed exhausted having to double up for a missing defensive midfield partner. I think it has to be Fernandes dropping deeper of the 2, or we need to see Mount tried on the right hand side of the attack, or even as the false-9, but you can’t have Mount and Fernandes as they want to be in the same positions on the field, leaving things imbalanced.

I think this gap between the attacking 5 and defensive 5/6 (if you include Onana) is such a basic point that teams are already exposing against United, and Wolves were just not clinical enough to do anything about it, and Spurs made United pay. With no clear backup to Casemiro other than the out-of-favour McTominay, I worry for that position unless things change in the next week. You can have tricky wingers bring the ball forward, but we can’t have players strolling through our midfield with the ball, it’s basic errors that will be exposed every single time. Furthermore, having this huge disparity between the attack-defence means the attack feels lacking and unable to be creative on the ball or without it, as we were left firing long-balls forward by the end of the game, and Rashford cannot do much with that from the no.9 role. Meanwhile, Shaw was again being prevented from overlapping at times, losing that width that had been a decent outlet previously.

Finally, the changes that were made when Fernandes went out right cannot keep happening. I know Ten Hag has tried this a few times, but with Pellistri, Sancho and even Mount potentially as a better wide option, Fernandes needs to be in the middle to get involved in the game. His game isn’t taking on players out wide, it’s chasing down play, controlling the game with his passing and playing balls through to the wide players to chase. He goes missing out wide, leaving United lacking in the middle, and the player frustrated on the right. He can’t do much from there, so you’re essentially putting your creative spark wide, to see the game out and not do much for the final few minutes. Fernandes needs to be the 10, but also given permission to roam when appropriate. He can decide when the press is right, and he is the link between defence and attack.

The issue in midfield seems to be reliant on United making moves late in the transfer window. Looking back, it seems like Ten Hag was sending a message to a few players and also the board with the selections he made. Firstly we had Maguire left out with a small injury which is understandable, but given the speculation of whether he will stay or go, this maybe raised more questions. Meanwhile, we didn’t see Donny Van de Beek involved in the squad, Brandon Williams, Alvaro Fernandez and Hannibal were also not in contention on the bench which could suggest moves or loans are on the cards for several of these players. The main focus was on Scott McTominay, who has been up and down under Ten Hag, as he doesn’t seem to like him for defensive midfielder, but has been useful as a late attacking option due to his physicality. It felt like the decision not to bring him in when United were again being overrun in the midfield was a clear message to the player that his future lies elsewhere, especially with rumoured interest in the player.

The biggest message to the board was choosing a bench including 2 backup keepers, including 1 who is all but out of the club in Dean Henderson. Ten Hag clearly knows his budget for transfers this summer, however if the board saw the performance and lack of options from the bench, if there’s any wiggle room in the finances, that was Ten Hag’s message.

The final talking point is perhaps the only positive from the game, in Andre Onana. Clearly not shy to show his emotions, he was a real leader on the pitch, demanding his box clear out from set pieces, and directing traffic in the defensive passes. He made some terrific saves to show he has that part of his game nailed down, and although conceding twice, neither goal could have been prevented by the keeper, so he came out of this one looking good.

There was a moment with Onana where we saw the type of keeper he can become when the attacking line is resolved, as he came to collect the ball just shy of the halfway line, and held it for just a second, before playing a solid pass forward. With him in the right-back position, Wan-Bissaka had a quick sprint to cover the goal just in case we saw something like the Lens goal. It showed the willingness to make something happen with his passing range which United will get joy from when Rashford moves out left and Hojlund can get forward as the target man.

The final point on Onana is how he has now twice been the man to face the media post-game. Having just arrived, it seems strange that he would have been the player to step out for post-game interviews, but he faced up to questions well, and looks to be a true leader on and off the pitch.