Match Summary
Here’s the lineup of both teams.
Both Tottenham and Manchester United have spent the difficult time this season, and Spurs were just 10 points above the relegation zone, although after the game Spurs went beyond Man United who are currently in the 15th place of the league table following the defeat in London.
In the early stage of the game, Spurs dominated the visitors and had kept the domination until the end. Amorim made tactical change to defend with the 5-3-2 system rather than the usual 5-2-3, but it didn’t work at all. They couldn’t apply enough pressure on Spurs from the midfield to their own half, leading the only goal which showed the lack of desire to defend the box and ability to win the duels. There were enough number of defenders but they were all like mannequins.
Man United had no idea in possession and in the final third they only deliver crosses which couldn’t provide any goal-scoring opportunities. Even after the game became open for both teams, no teams could have created the moment of “if it were in”.
0-15mins
Spurs regained energy
The first 15 minutes of the game was completely dominated by Spurs. They could establish the possession in the middle third and comfortably progressed into the final third. Even though Spurs were brilliant in possession and in defensive transition after losing the ball to win it back, Amorim’s tactical tweak made it much easier for Postecoglou’s men.
Rather than their usual 5-2-3 defensive block, Amorim instructed Zirkzee to look after the opposition defensive midfielder Bentancur and Garnacho to be in the midfield line.
As Zirkzee and Højlund weren’t good at defending the underload up front, Spurs comfortably kept the possession at the back. Additionally, Zirkzee is in the central position, which forced Bruno Fernandes to cover larger area and look after both Maddison and Spence, as Dalot was pinned by Son and unable to jump to close down Spence. The flexibility in the left side of Spurs also helped them to find a spare player there and progress into the final third.
The goal came from the throw-in in the right side of Spurs and they switched the ball to the left, then it was switched to the right again. Then the cross was delivered to the far post area and Son played it back to the middle where Bergvall took a shot, the ball wasn’t swept away well by Onana, finally Maddison put it in the back of the net. United’s defenders were forced to turn their bodies again and again, which might have helped Maddision to be ignored by them.
Tactically, the 5-2-3 system is not good at defending wide areas. But considering the sequence originally came from a throw-in which defenders need to squeeze to the ball side more than usual, it might be harsh to criticise the first switch of play. But after that, even though they had enough numbers around the box, they allowed Spurs to deliver the cross easily. And against the cross, they were just standing there with doing nothing. It is not a problem of tactics, it is all about mentality.
15-30mins
No method to progress the ball
The defensive error of tactics and individuals was mentioned above, but how about their performance in possession?
Spurs had been lacked intensity in pressing recently, but this game was different. They shuffled across on time and the right fullback Spence could apply enough pressure on Dalot and the other defenders followed him collectively to defend against Højlund running in behind to exploit the channel.
Spurs’ intense pressing forced United to play around, but once, United could play through the middle by finding dropping Zirkzee in the middle just before 16 minutes of the game.
The sequence came from a quick restart from a free kick following Maddison’s foul on Fernandes, which helped United little bit. Spurs couldn’t find right man to mark in the transition and Zirkzee dropped to create the 4v3 overload in the middle. If United could have recycled the ball more when playing out to recreate this kind of situation more, they would gain more possession.
In terms of high pressing of United, actually it worked a few times. The problem was they couldn’t progress the ball to the opposition final third to create the high pressing opportunities after losing the ball there.
Dalot stepped up to join the midfield to form the 4-3-1-2 system to apply pressure high up the pitch. They forced Spurs to play their right side and lock them in. As Spurs often had their fullbacks inside and wingers drop to receive the ball facing to their own goal, closing down the winger on the ball tightly is crucial. In this game, Dorgu often closed Kulusevski down quite well to force some errors around there and some chances for United came from the high pressing.
Therefore, if United could have found the way to progress the ball further to create high pressing opportunities, they would have more chances.
30-45mins
Set pieces game
United tried to create chances from set pieces in this period of the game. They even let Fernandes deliver long balls into the box from the free kicks around the centre circle. This was the only way to put the ball in the dangerous area for them in this game.
45-60mins
Man United bounced back little bit
After the break, United created some chances by successfully exploit the space in behind the opposition back line. First one was Dalot who made the diagonal run to be found by Maguire who played the great ball. Another one was finding Zirkzee in between the lines, then Garnacho ran through the gap of Spurs’ defenders. Both opportunities were saved by Vicario but United seemed to have some momentum in the second half.
But against a low block, United could only rely on Fernandes delivering crosses into the box.
60-75mins
Repeat of the last period
The summary of this period is Spurs had some chances from set pieces and United still kept delivering crosses to hope something.
75-90mins
The precision in the final third
The last 15 minutes was quite open and both teams had some fast breaks but none of them were converted into the goals. When they had moments like counterattacks, they couldn’t create a goal scoring opportunity because most passes into the box were blocked, which led another counterattack for the opposition. Spurs failed to kill the game and United failed to equalise.
Also, to retain the lead, Spurs spent more time in the 4-4-2 block in the midfield. United were allowed more possession but they weren’t able to play through the block to create chances. And the game was over.
