The game between United and Spurs at Old Trafford turned out to be a surprise as Uniter were crushed 6–1. Even though much of it can be blamed on United going down to 10 men early in the game, they were already on course to a defeat well before that. Tottenham had come in to play defensive, attacking on the counter using Son and Kane’s pace. Meanwhile, Manchester United had come in with a plan to build from the back and exploit any spaces in between the lines.
Manchester United were set up as 4–2–3–1 in the attacking phase, with Pogba and Matic sitting deep protecting the defense and Bruno Fernandes upfront playing as a no. 10. In the defensive phase, they were often going with three at the back. On occasions it would be Aaron Wan Bissaka who would join Bailly and Maguire to form the three at the back, leaving Greenwood alone on the wings. In alternative situations, either Matic or Pogba would join the two defenders so that Wan Bissaka could attack through the right wing.
Tottenham Hotspur played a simple 4–3–3 and were determined to keep their shape throughout the game. Mourinho planned to frustrate United and break on the counter whenever possible. Hojberg was the one who would drop back to help in defense, allowing the full-backs to get forward. Spurs had planned to press their opposition as much as possible. To cope up with the lack in midfield, Kane or Son would drop in the midfield to even things up.
Whenever United tried to get forward and build 3 on 3 attacks, Spurs would always have their full-backs and wingers ready for a counter-attack. This confused Wan-Bissaka, because if he stayed deep with Son, Reguilon had enormous space in front of him, and if he came forward, Son was unmarked. This made United’s defense shift to the right, leaving Lamela with space on the other side or in the center.
United did start strong in the game and got a penalty early on which Bruno converted to make it 1–0. But literally, seconds later, Spurs came back with an equalizer. The goal came as a result of high pressing from Spurs, and a couple of foolish errors from Maguire in the same attack. His header back to the keeper was poor, and while trying to compensate for his mistake, he almost pulled Shaw out of the way for Spurs to get the equalizer. Another Maguire error came when he started to fall back instead of blocking a quick free-kick after committing a foul. Kane quickly found Son, who then provided a great finish to make it 2–1 inside the first 10 minutes.
Around the half-hour mark, Martial was sent off controversially, leaving United in a 4–3–2 formation, with Greenwood and Rashford upfront in the center. This meant they were outnumbered in the wings and were constantly troubled in that part of the pitch. This was seen in the 5th goal, as Son and Reguilon attracted United’s defense to the left, and with Lamela causing Shaw to follow him to the center, Aurier had all the time and space to get their 5th goal.
Overall, this was a humiliating defeat for the home team as it was one of their heaviest defeats in the Premier League era. Although Ole would claim that the sending off had a lot to do with this scoreline, but even before the sending off, Spurs were fully in control of the game.
About the Author: Namit Sharma is a student of MBA(Sports Management) at Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, and a football enthusiast obsessed with an in-depth analysis of football. A big supporter of the flexibility of tactics and formations during a football match.
Namit is a creative writer at HeadKick.co
