Cold Trafford

No mid-week Mourinho magic to be seen at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. We got what we deserved in reality. Starting each half cold as if we had not really got the pre-match nerves out of our system. Another suspect defensive performance, another 2 goals conceded and another individual error that led to a goal. That must be the 4657 of the calendar year. Nothing really great to talk about apart from Dele’s goal. Which was pure magic, technique and gave us a glimmer of hope before half time of maybe taking something from the game. Onwards we go.

Tactics

Out of possession 4-2-3-1

We set up with the same system out of possession as the previous games under Mourinho. Set back four with the 2 in central midfield. Two wingers, with Dele the number 10 supporting Kane up front. The main takeaways straight away here are the Midfield duo. Not a pairing you want to see really. Especially as with Aurier bombing up and down that flank Sissoko was doing a lot of covering. Leaving Winks exposed as the only real central midfielder. We have seen this time and time again, last season especially. It’s just not good enough, we need some stability. Hopefully it is just a matter of time and fitness permitting that Mou finds his best partnership.

In Possession 3-3-4

This was the shape in possession. Vertonghen shifting over again to left centre back. Aurier pushing up to be the wide right player, with Sissoko dropping deeper and shifting over to cover his runs forward. Winks was left covering most of the middle of the park as well as the left-hand side with Son pushing up vs AWB. Lucas, who was largely ineffective was playing as an inside forward. Dele was right behind Kane in that left hand pocket between their midfield and defence. Kane was a little isolated up front, due to our lack of midfield he often dropped deep to try and get on the ball and get us moving forward.

3-3-4 Double Substitution

After 70 minutes we had both Eriksen and Ndombele on the pitch. Eriksen came on for Lucas and Ndombele on for Winks. Back three still the same and Aurier patrolling the right flank. Ndombele played in the centre on midfield but pushing up when he could. Sissoko moved further out wide interchanging with Aurier. Eriksen moved to a number 8/10, trying to influence our attacking play. Son was still on the left with Dele pushing further up in an attempt to link with Kane.

Obviously, this still left us short in midfield with no one really sitting and holding. We were just taking the game to them but mostly on the wings. Eriksen tried to get us going. Passing in and around the box and shifting his position to try and get that extra yard of space to work in. Kane continued to drop deep to affect the play. Due to our lack of invention and the service or lack of that he was getting.

Stats

Metric Manchester UTD

Tottenham

Possession 52% 48% Passes 269 241 Accurate Passes

211 (78%)

185 (77%)

Shots (On target) 8 (4) 3 (2) Tackles 9

8

Clearances

5

13



First Half Stats

As you can see by the stats, not too much between us. With possession, passes and accurate passes quite close. It was just what UTD did with their possession and passing. They seemed to be quite content on getting it down their left and letting Rashford do what he needed to do. I was surprised our passing accuracy was that high to be honest, watching the match it just seemed that we were giving the ball away sloppily time and time again.

Metric Manchester UTD

Tottenham

Possession 38% 62% Passes 167 258 Accurate Passes

120 (72%)

208 (81%)

Shots (On target) 4 (3) 5 (3) Tackles 9

12

Clearances

11

4



Second Half Stats

Complete reversal Stats wise. We started to dominate possession and increased our passes and shots. Coinciding with Eriksen and then Ndombele coming on as we searched for a second equaliser. Unlike the first half most of our passing after the Rashford penalty was in the opposition’s half. With Eriksen and Dele getting involved a lot more, using clever interchanges to try and work an opening in and around the box. We were still winning tackles and trying to get the ball back and forced them into a number of clearances. Unfortunately our tactic of getting Aurier to cross was not paying off with only 1 out of his 9 crosses being accurate. Not a bad change of pace for the second half but more clear-cut chances are needed.

Conclusions

Mourinho is four games in, he has been in the job just over two weeks. What could he change realistically, or what could he have found out that he really did not know already. He has to change the mentality of the players first and then get them playing how he wants them to. They will still have Poch’s tactics and methods engrained in them, these will not disappear overnight.

Hopefully, we do not see the Winks and Sissoko partnership in midfield again, unless it’s part of a defined three in there. But with this lopsided formation, it just will not work. Sissoko will cover Aurier far too often. Which will leave Winks too much work to do, as Dele will most likely be playing higher up in the 10 position.

Dele has been the bright spark in these 4 games and is in sparkling form, goals, assists and nice touches. He has got his arrogance back, you would not have seen him trying a flick like that 6 months ago. He has slowly worked his way back to fitness and form. Long may it continue. I thought Sanchez had a good game all in all. Was pretty dominant numbers wise, apart from his slip for the first goal. More Gazzaniga’s fault then his though, a game in which we saw the best and worst of our keeper. Our number 2 made some nice saves but should have dealt with the shot for the first goal better. It’s not as if Lloris has never made a hollow against a “top 6” club.

Mou’ving on

Come the new year I expect Jose to have a plan in place for the team and moving forward. He should have an idea about his best 11 and the players he can put his trust in. I am still optimistic in regards to moving forward, as we need to. Mourinho is here and here to work with the players we loved under Poch. I hope to get that feeling back, the feeling of enjoying watching our games and having people envious of how we play. A long road ahead and Jose it at the wheel.

COYS

Thanks for reading my Match Review on my new site. All feedback welcome as well as support. Means a lot that people still want to read my views. Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding Spurs, my aim to be THE Spurs source on twitter continues.

Further to this I will be posting about the FPL prospects of some Spurs players each week instead of looking at them in detail in this weekly article. So, keep a look out for that near the end of the week.

Mr WP

@Writehartlane