5 Things we learned from Spurs’ last minute draw against Man United

1. I miss the international break already. I actually think United got let off the hook over the three week break with the City news given how poor we’ve actually been in the opening games of the season and we were brought back to reality instantly in a horrifying first half of football, Spurs came absolutely flying out of the traps pressing the life out of United creating chance after chance that easily should have led to the visitors being at least 4 or 5 goals up by half-time through the likes of Solanke, Gallagher, Savinho, Kudus etc who missed some guilt-edged chances in the first 45. United looked stunned in the first half and from my point-of-view were a disgrace considering they were playing at home which led to the fans turning on the team within the first 20 minutes which I don’t think I’ve ever seen at Old Trafford, by half-time I would have been tempted to make five subs if I was Michael Carrick but we saw an unchanged line-up heading into the second 45 which did see United improve but Spurs were still the stronger side. Carrick eventually saw enough and decided to bring Baleba on for his debut along with Dalot and Zirkzee which saw United grow into the game and against all the odds actually score the first goal of the game, Cunha picked up the ball on the left and nudged the ball towards Mbeumo in the box who took a lovely touch before firing low into the bottom corner to put United 1-0 up in the 73rd minute. Just five minutes later there was a flashpoint as Bentancur and Van Hecke went flying into challenges which Luke Shaw took issue with pushing the Uruguayan over which led to a squabble as Bentancur pushed his head towards Shaw which led to a pretty obvious red card for the Spurs midfielder, United had chances to kill the game in the last ten minutes but it was Spurs who would hit back in injury time as Tonali’s cross was headed home by Dominic Solanke to earn Spurs a more than deserved point at Old Trafford against a poor Man United side.

2. I’m not sure what more Spurs need to do to win that game. I’ve been more positive about Spurs so far this season than most people because I can see the way De Zerbi wants this team to play and for me I can always get behind a clear identity even if it’s not bringing results straight away, I thought Spurs were absolutely brilliant in the first half cutting United to pieces over and over again through Kudus, Savinho and Gallagher in midfield who found gaps between the lines and completely dominated United’s midfield which should have led to a 4 or 5 goal lead for Spurs at half-time. It was the same old story with Solanke missing some sitters along with Kudus and Gallagher but it was so encouraging to see from a Spurs perspective dominating a so called ‘big’ team away from home, you did get the feeling that they would regret not scoring in the first half and they were punished by a great goal from United in the second half which would normally lead to this Spurs team crumbling which we thought was repeating with a stupid red card by Bentancur who is now going to miss the next three games but they managed to steal a point in the end. Dominic Solanke had a horrific game up front for Spurs but to nab a goal with a lovely deft header will do him the world of good and means that Spurs move up from 20th in the table, in terms of other positive performances for Spurs I thought Savinho was immense down the left along with Udogie who I thought was the best full-back on the pitch today. Senesi and Van Hecke were brilliant on the ball but I don’t see that partnership working long-term due to how slow they both are but they are a joy to watch on the ball, by some distance better than United’s two centre-backs. Overall although they should have won the game I think De Zerbi will be by far the happier manager out of the two and will bring some real momentum into the Coventry game next week, I can see Spurs battering them next week.

3. Yet another game added to a long list of disgraceful performances so far this season from United. When the crowd is booing within the first 20 minutes of a game at home without even conceding a goal you know there is something wrong and that first half was as bad as I’ve ever seen from United at Old Trafford, I mentioned in the first point that I think the international break let United off the hook as that performance against Fulham was awful and it was arguably worse today getting run ragged by a team sat 20th in the league. Obviously Spurs are a much better side than the table suggests but I can’t sit here and pretend like it’s acceptable to see the current performances we are seeing on the pitch from United, we got away with murder in the first 45 to still be at 0-0 and I was shocked to see Carrick not make any changes at half-time but by the 60th minute United had stabilised somewhat which allowed Carrick to introduce Baleba for his debut who I thought looked really good in the 30 minutes he got along with Zirkzee who once again looked a real bright spark up front. The goal was sheer brilliance from Mbeumo who finally got a chance up front and with Sesko’s long-term injury I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of the Cameroonian in that position which is a positive I think, on the other hand though you have the current performances from the likes of Cunha, Fernandes, Tielemans, Martinez etc which is driving me insane at the minute. Fernandes in particular had to be subbed off today in my opinion which would have shown real character from Carrick but once again the captain played 90 minutes where he was null and void, as soon as Spurs went down to 10-men you knew what was coming and Martinez’s defending for the goal was a complete shambles facing the wrong way as Solanke nods in the equaliser. At least we get a nice easy game on Tuesday to respond quick with a trip to the Metropolitano to face Atletico Madrid, what’s the worst that could happen?

4. The writings on the wall for Carrick as United manager. I can’t recall a time when the United fanbase have turned on a manager as quick as we have with Carrick but the current performances are so bad that you can understand why the fans have turned already, on paper United had arguably the easiest start to the season and they’ve taken 6 points from 18 available which might just be okay if we were playing well but getting a bit unlucky but you could argue that we’ve been outplayed in every single game. Ipswich were the better team in the first half of that game and should have been 0-2 up, it took a lucky deflection to get a point against Fulham who once again lost today, the Everton game was the one you could argue we were unlucky in but we’ve won 1 out of 6 games in the league along with crashing out of the Carabao cup. I mentioned it in the Fulham review but the fitness levels in this team currently are simply not good enough and I would almost bet that that will be the first thing a new manager says when they get through the door at some point over the next two months, Carlos Baleba is going to have to move mountains in that midfield as we are getting ran through every game by below average midfielders. Defensively today we looked an absolute shambles with Lammens getting put under pressure over and over which led to a huge increase in the anxiety in the stadium which fuels the players, I did think Yoro was a bright point at right-back but was subbed off early for some reason for Dalot which was a strange decision. The next few games for United are grim and with some injuries I don’t see where we pick up any points in the Champions League or the Premier League, it’s only a matter of time before United are looking for a new manager so the sooner it happens the better in my opinion. You might think it’s harsh but trust me it’s going to get worse over the next few weeks, I’m really not looking forward to it.

5. What’s up next for these two teams? For United we take a trip to Spain to face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday before facing Leeds United at Elland Road next Sunday in the league, if you think it couldn’t get worse we then take a trip to Como then after who are absolutely flying in the Serie A. For Spurs they are back in action next Monday against Coventry which simply has to be their first win in the league this season, following that they take a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea which should be an absolute cracker in a couple of weeks time. I’ll have Como vs Roma and Liverpool vs Man City up here for you tomorrow so stay tuned for those, lets hope it’s a great super Sunday.