Watching Spurs kneecap a pale tribute act of a Manchester United side earlier this week, it was easy to forget the bad times.



Two league wins in 29 years: that was Tottenham’s Old Trafford balance sheet before Monday. A compendium of accumulated trauma, punctured by André Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood, but very much the story again under Mauricio Pochettino, whose previous four visits had yielded a grand total of zero points and zero goals.



Before kick-off, it seemed entirely appropriate that the Argentine was decked out like Johnny Cash by way of Diego Simeone. This particular chunk of Stretford was Pochettino’s own personal Ring of Fire.



Not any more. After a harum-scarum first half that might have tilted either way, Tottenham asserted themselves in the second, ruthlessly exposing their hosts’ deep-set fragilities. So convincing was the victory, Pochettino may be tempted to add a variation of that famous old Sir Alex Ferguson line to...