[Pass and Move]

Well, basically we went for a diamond with Lingard marking Winks in a false nine-ish role. That was the reason we were good in the first half. We basically man-marked ther diamond in midfield so none of their midfield players were allowed any room. The amount of times they punted it long from defence in the first half were higher than most games for them.

Rashford and Martial were wide so they could hit Spurs between fullback and the central defender. They are weak in that area in transition because their fullbacks often push high up in attack. The goal came from this.

In the second half Spurs moved Eriksen back and changed their formation so we no longer marked them man for man. This was the main reason they came back stronger in the second half. Their midfield had more time on the ball.

Cheers. It’s amazing what you miss whilst watching the game out of one eye and a toddler out of the other.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

I was very impressed by Solksjaer's tactical work. Especially for the first hour. Pochetino literally had no answer to what he was doing. Yet that was with a side he has only done a week of serious tactical work with. It bodes verh well for the rest of the seadon IMO

 

[Pughnichi]

The definition of park the bus, is to put 10 men behind the ball and try and hit the opponent on the counter.
Concede possession and defend.
That my friend, is exactly what happened in the 2nd half. I'm baffled how anybody can say otherwise.

The 1st half was good, though.

It wasn’t the entirety of the second half. We made a good start in the second with Lloris denying Pogba with 3 great saves. Only really the last 30 when Tottenham started to box us in. Think you’re being a touch unfair suggesting the bus was parked.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It wasn’t the entirety of the second half. We made a good start in the second with Lloris denying Pogba with 3 great saves. Only really the last 30 when Tottenham started to box us in. Think you’re being a touch unfair suggesting the bus was parked.

There is also a difference between a team forcing you to park the bus and deliberately parking the bus, which is what we did in the past.

 

[manichester]

We still tried to play football in the last 30 minutes despite being boxed in, previously panic would have set in.

 

[Jacob]

Lingard seems to have said (in Dubai) that we were going for the win, trying to score early and hold the lead. Seems like Solskjaer executed that plan quite nicely.

 

[UncleBob]

I was very impressed by Solksjaer's tactical work. Especially for the first hour. Pochetino literally had no answer to what he was doing. Yet that was with a side he has only done a week of serious tactical work with. It bodes verh well for the rest of the seadon IMO

I wouldn't say the first hour..First half we more or less mirrored Tottenham, which is fine, we wanted them pushing up with their fullbacks instead of playing through their midfield. The match was fairly open in the first half, which was nice. Tottenham changed it for the second half, pulled Eriksen further back to get him more involved, we needed a good 10-15 mins before we tried responding to it. Ole acknowledges as much himself

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: "Results wise, to come away here and beat Tottenham is fantastic. We hung on in the second half and we never got to grips with it when they changed the system, but you are allowed to have a good goalkeeper. Obviously when you make 11 saves it is a top performance, but even so, two of them were top saves but the rest you would expect David to make. We defended well as a team. It was just a complete team performance."

It's hardly a surprise that Tottenham put us under pressure and create chances against us, we're still very much a team in progress trying to find our feet while Tottenham is a well drilled unit that are used to playing a specific way.

I thought it was more interesting to see that we were willing to leave Lingard, Rashford and Martial up front with little defensive duties, more or less committing them to attacking Tottenham on the counter.

 

[FootyGirl88]

"Not stupid square back passes" ugh i love him

 

[Robertd0803]

Fantastic result. Amazing performance by De Gea.

 

[crossy1686]

I was very impressed by Solksjaer's tactical work. Especially for the first hour. Pochetino literally had no answer to what he was doing. Yet that was with a side he has only done a week of serious tactical work with. It bodes verh well for the rest of the seadon IMO

This is my biggest concern about Pochettino. He doesn't know how to change a game or get a message across mid game. He needs half time to change things and you don't get that when you concede in the second half. All the games where Spurs have 'choked' this has happened. It's a huge red flag.

 

[Andycoleno9]

The most intense game this season. I am delighted that we won against Spurs and how we played attacking football in a big away match. That was refreshing. De gea was amazing, Pogba and Lindelof also excellent. But i don't want to be party pooper but second half wasn't good at all. It is Spurs away and they must create chances but that was too many chances. Any other game it would be draw or loss. We must sort our defence in this transfer window. We need defender. It is unbelievable how we suck in defending set pieces and high balls in general.

And one more thing; Who rated De gea under 10??

 

[OldRed1]

The most intense game this season. I am delighted that we won against Spurs and how we played attacking football in a big away match. That was refreshing. De gea was amazing, Pogba and Lindelof also excellent. But i don't want to be party pooper but second half wasn't good at all. It is Spurs away and they must create chances but that was too many chances. Any other game it would be draw or loss. We must sort our defence in this transfer window. We need defender. It is unbelievable how we suck in defending set pieces and high balls in general.

And one more thing; Who rated De gea under 10??

Me, the reason he had so much to do was that his distribution was awful. I'll give him a 9.5 though.

 

[Ibrahimorich]

This is my biggest concern about Pochettino. He doesn't know how to change a game or get a message across mid game. He needs half time to change things and you don't get that when you concede in the second half. All the games where Spurs have 'choked' this has happened. It's a huge red flag.

Conversely, he did make the correct changes at half time and they dominated the 2nd half after a fairly even first half. We had no response for their 2nd half performance. I think that highlights a lack of depth in our squad really. No trusted players on the bench to come on.

 

[Ekeke]

This is my biggest concern about Pochettino. He doesn't know how to change a game or get a message across mid game. He needs half time to change things and you don't get that when you concede in the second half. All the games where Spurs have 'choked' this has happened. It's a huge red flag.

Well it was a night and day change in the 2nd half where they had literally 21 shots on our goal in the 2nd half after 0 in the first.

During the time on the pitch it requires leaders and organizers to sort these things out. Those players need to understand who they are picking up and who's responsibility it is. Its hard for a manager to micromanage it during play and tell each individual player who it is. That has to be something you sort out before the match. Clearly Spurs were caught by surprise with our tactics a little bit and the players didnt know how to reorganize to help their defense who were exposed by our tactics.

In the end all Spurs really did to fix it was get more on top of us with their attacking impetus, getting Eriksen more into the game and causing more problems for us defensively so our players had to drop a bit more to get involved and worry more about defending.

 

[UpWithRivers]

I would like us to dominate the midfield. Herrera, Matic and Pogba in theory should have dominated that Spurs midfield but they seems to be running through us too much. It was partly tactical sitting too deep, but Im beginning to think a new defencive midfielder is needed as much as a new CB.

 

[The Boy]

After todays performance I believe that Lukaku's time at Utd., may end at the end of this season. I do not think he has the ability to fit into a quick moving and alternating positioning game that Ole seems to be adopting. He appears to be on occasions very static, he lacks the deftness of foot for the quick one two, and this is only my opinion lacks the ability to think ahead of where the ball will be and moving or positioning his body to receive that ball.

A bit like Klopp's thoughts on Benteke

 

[RedEM10]

On another day Spurs bury 4 or 5. Great result, and I loved the first half performance with the strikers split and Lingard through the middle and dropping in to pick up the ball. Hanging on for dear life in the second half at times but that's what makes the result so sweet.

 

[freeurmind]

Jose In?

 

[crossy1686]

Conversely, he did make the correct changes at half time and they dominated the 2nd half after a fairly even first half. We had no response for their 2nd half performance. I think that highlights a lack of depth in our squad really. No trusted players on the bench to come on.

Agree that the Spurs bench is light, which ultimately stops them from competing with Liverpool and City. However, I'd say we were in control for about an hour, not just 45 minutes and Spurs had to grow into a home game at some point. We looked knackered in the last half an hour which I think had the biggest impact on Spurs having more control in the game and us looking out of it.

 

[Irish Jet]

If Spurs had equalised or gone ahead we probably would have pushed out and the game is completely different. People act like the fact that we were defending a lead doesn’t impact how the sides play. The big failure of XG. When it was 0-0 we were the better side.

 

[Tincanalley]

Looked again at the first half. First ten minutes not much from us, they were dominating it. The rest was more even. Our midfield were magnificent, especially Pogba, Herrera and Matic, incredible work. The latter two made life difficult for Spurs and made us competitive in midfield. And really Spurs did nothing wrong, that first half was really superb, the first major indication that OGS and his backroom team might be the real deal.

Jones did really well defensively, as did Shaw. But Lindelof on Kane was epic. I think my 10/10 for DDG might be revised to a 9.5, just his distribution fell a tiny bit short in that half a couple of times. (Keeper seems to be under instructions to drop it on half way every time, a bit more variation in order?). There was not one weak performance out there. Young seemed to have a lot of space on his right hand side, and he did great on his man as well.

I'll be honest, I didn't miss Valencia or Fred. Lingard deserves very special mention here, his running and positional play really seemed to rattle Spurs in the first half. My feeling is that there was general unease at the way the game was going both on their bench and on the field from about ten minutes on.

The second half is a whole other story, its an small novel, and really for another day. But a look back shows that while I still agree with the DDG MOTM award, there were a whole bunch of guys out there in contention. Well done, come on United!

 

[RedorDead21]

Looked again at the first half. First ten minutes not much from us, they were dominating it. The rest was more even. Our midfield were magnificent, especially Pogba, Herrera and Matic, incredible work. The latter two made life difficult for Spurs and made us competitive in midfield. And really Spurs did nothing wrong, that first half was really superb, the first major indication that OGS and his backroom team might be the real deal.

Jones did really well defensively, as did Shaw. But Lindelof on Kane was epic. I think my 10/10 for DDG might be revised to a 9.5, just his distribution fell a tiny bit short in that half a couple of times. (Keeper seems to be under instructions to drop it on half way every time, a bit more variation in order?). There was not one weak performance out there. Young seemed to have a lot of space on his right hand side, and he did great on his man as well.

I'll be honest, I didn't miss Valencia or Fred. Lingard deserves very special mention here, his running and positional play really seemed to rattle Spurs in the first half. My feeling is that there was general unease at the way the game was going both on their bench and on the field from about ten minutes on.

The second half is a whole other story, its an small novel, and really for another day. But a look back shows that while I still agree with the DDG MOTM award, there were a whole bunch of guys out there in contention. Well done, come on United!

General opinion including mine is everyone put in a shift and we had some very good performances throughout the team. Given this is true, and yet we were still under the cosh for most of the second half......unable to really get hold of the ball and not be pinned back so deep.....it's slightly concerning going forward? Who's fault was that and who could be replaced with better to stop that happening because lets be honest we will concede more often than not if this repeats.

 

[Buster15]

Great 3 points but boy we could have been on the wrong end of a thumping. In any other game if we concede those sort of chances we'll lose. Defensively far too easy to get at. Would Spurs have created that many chances against other top sides? I don't think so. Some great performances though from Herrera, Rash, Pog and obviously De Gea. Still waiting on Martial to come out of his shell. Still in slouch mode, should be terrifying the opposition with his speed and talent.

Completely agree with you regarding Martial.
To me he is far too predictable on the left.
When faced with 2or3 defenders he slows down and stops then looses possession.

I realise it is not easy but he hardly varies his tactics.
When things are going well he can be a match winner but often he seems to fade out of the game like yesterday.
Then he looks dumbstruck at being taken off.

Virtually everyone else has upped their game since Ole arrived but not Martial.

 

[Buster15]

This is my biggest concern about Pochettino. He doesn't know how to change a game or get a message across mid game. He needs half time to change things and you don't get that when you concede in the second half. All the games where Spurs have 'choked' this has happened. It's a huge red flag.

Really.
I thought that Tottenham did change at half time and the outcome was there for all to see.

Ericsson was far more involved after the break and caused us problems.

 

[Tomuś]

Why would my assessment be harsh?

I agree he's clearly MOTM, but it's clearly the case he didn't make a single save that we haven't seen him from many times before.

It's harsh because you imply he didn't do anything special, which he did. Just because he does it all the time doesn't take away from it being extra-ordinary. Just like it would be harsh to belittle Messi's brace and an assist after a given game 'cause he didn't do anything more than we know he can, innit'

 

[LoveFootball]

@SquishyMcSquish I told you we'll win this game. We're unstoppable under Ole, fighting spirit is back and I back us to beat anyone till end of season.

Yesterday, if Tottenham had equalised, we'd have been all over them chasing for 2nd goal.

 

[Buster15]

What amazed me is Tottenham were knackered after the Chelsea game and ran like demons in the second half. What do they give their players at half-time?! There's being a little fitter than the next team but we had the week off. I can't believe we have a group of humans that are naturally unfit whereas other teams happened to chance upon super fit ones. Nor do I believe our fitness regimes are that much worse. It confuses me a lot.

I was also concerned about our fitness in the second half. However, it may well have been more tactical than running out of steam.
We seemed to be trying to get behind the ball and fill up the spaces and stopped trying to press.

What concerned me though was our lack of concentration for the corners.
They were already taking a short corner while we were not looking at what was happening.

Concentration against the top teams is absolutely crucial as they move the ball so quickly.

Brilliant result all the same.

 

[ManchesterUnited&England]

Great win

 

[Mike Smalling]

Still buzzing from this win! I think the reaction is it a bit tiring, though. People act like we should have kept Spurs from having any chances at all. Of course it was nerve-wracking and Spurs could easily have scored, but we also had the chances to score more than we did - this is just how football goes. Even in Fergie's later years we often rode our luck a bit, when we managed to get away victories against other top sides (e.g. at Anfield in 06/07 and 07/08).

Aside from the three points, I think the important thing is, that Ole got the tactics right - especially in the first half. More and more, he is starting to look like a really good option for the long term. However, I still want to see how he does in the Champions League, before I fully commit to the Ole-train

 

[SteveJ]

We still tried to play football in the last 30 minutes despite being boxed in, previously panic would have set in.

Exacty. And we weren't even taking the ball to the corners late-on.

 

[Tomuś]

He did make some good saves that you expect a good goalkeeper to make. But as good as Rashford's shot was, he should have saved that one too. If I remember correctly, Arsenal's fourth goal by Torreira in the NL derby was quite similar to today's where Lloris stands too close to his near post and shows too much of the other side to the striker.

De Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world, but Lloris is in a tier below keepers like even Alisson or Courtois.

Only De Gea would've come anywhere close to that. The finish was inch-perfect, low and quickly taken.

 

[crossy1686]

Well it was a night and day change in the 2nd half where they had literally 21 shots on our goal in the 2nd half after 0 in the first.

During the time on the pitch it requires leaders and organizers to sort these things out. Those players need to understand who they are picking up and who's responsibility it is. Its hard for a manager to micromanage it during play and tell each individual player who it is. That has to be something you sort out before the match. Clearly Spurs were caught by surprise with our tactics a little bit and the players didnt know how to reorganize to help their defense who were exposed by our tactics.

In the end all Spurs really did to fix it was get more on top of us with their attacking impetus, getting Eriksen more into the game and causing more problems for us defensively so our players had to drop a bit more to get involved and worry more about defending.

These are all things a manager and his staff should be working on in the build up to the game. They knew they were playing us on Sunday, it was no surprise.

 

[crossy1686]

Really.
I thought that Tottenham did change at half time and the outcome was there for all to see.

Ericsson was far more involved after the break and caused us problems.

He dropped into DCM instead of ACM at half time, that saw him getting more time on the ball and being able to pick his passes better. My concern with Pochettino is that the change was only made at half time when they had time to consolidate and discuss as a team what wasn't working. Dare I say it, Mourinho would have seen that and made that change about 25 minutes in and turned the game on it's head, with a substitution if needed also.

 

[Ekeke]

These are all things a manager and his staff should be working on in the build up to the game. They knew they were playing us on Sunday, it was no surprise.

The way we played was different to any other game under Ole. How were they supposed to sort it out before the game, a crystal ball?

 

[Ekeke]

He dropped into DCM instead of ACM at half time, that saw him getting more time on the ball and being able to pick his passes better. My concern with Pochettino is that the change was only made at half time when they had time to consolidate and discuss as a team what wasn't working. Dare I say it, Mourinho would have seen that and made that change about 25 minutes in and turned the game on it's head, with a substitution if needed also.

Yeah he'd have taken off the attacking players

 

[sunama]

We never looked like cowards in 1st half, DDG was mental in 2nd half. Said it in Ole thread, regardless of who is the manager, 2nd half isnt acceptable imo, last 5 plus minutes, sure but to get out and be like that from very start of 2nd half, no sorry.

We didnt pay the price today but if we come out again like that after taking a lead, we will be punished.

Agreed 100%.
For me, Spurs were fantastic in the 2nd half. Every time we moved forward with the ball to attack, seconds later, they got the ball off of us, then passed the ball through us, like we weren't even there.

The one plus I take from the game is that if Poch does join us, within a year or 2, we should be able to do that to other teams. Spurs' passing was phenomenal and they know how to get the ball from defence to attack, quickly. After yesterday's match, Poch went up, in my estimation. I never realised that Spurs could play like that.

 

[crossy1686]

The way we played was different to any other game under Ole. How were they supposed to sort it out before the game, a crystal ball?

The only change they made at half time was Eriksson's position in the midfield. Hardly the Da Vinci code is it? Why did it take him over 45 minutes to assess the situation and tell Eriksson to drop deeper and allow himself more time on the ball? Surely that is something they've worked on before now?

 

[crossy1686]

Agreed 100%.
For me, Spurs were fantastic in the 2nd half. Every time we moved forward with the ball to attack, seconds later, they got the ball off of us, then passed the ball through us, like we weren't even there.

The one plus I take from the game is that if Poch does join us, within a year or 2, we should be able to do that to other teams. Spurs' passing was phenomenal and they know how to get the ball from defence to attack, quickly. After yesterday's match, Poch went up, in my estimation. I never realised that Spurs could play like that.

He said so himself that it was the best performance he had seen from a Spurs side in 4 and a half years of being there. They did look great at times.

 

[Ekeke]

The only change they made at half time was Eriksson's position in the midfield. Hardly the Da Vinci code is it? Why did it take him over 45 minutes to assess the situation and tell Eriksson to drop deeper and allow himself more time on the ball? Surely that is something they've worked on before now?

They also stopped giving the ball away so cheaply (which led to the goal), and had more impetus on pinning us back with better attacking. They obviously needed that pep talk hence the result.

How do you do that during the half? Message on a piece of paper?

 

[Rolaholic]

Would love to see Alexis play in the central role Lingard played in up top yesterday