Manchester United v Tottenham: Full Analysis

I know this should have posted a few days ago, but I have been busy with studying for midterms in school. Despite the fact, I didn’t want to skip over this post, because I had been looking forward to the game so much. It was a rough start for United, because as the pass backwards from the kick was immediately intercepted be Gareth Bale, whose run down the field almost lead to a goal. For the first few minutes, it was attack after attack by Tottenham. United slowly took over the attacking position. Soon enough, it was United who was taking shot after shot, but they still didn’t have the cutting edge to score through. Although Totenham didn’t have enough to break through United’s defense, it was because of United’s constant fouls committed on the Spurs. Van Der Vaart had plenty of opportunities to score from a set piece, but with Van Der Sar in goal, returning from the flu, there was no getting past him. He had no trouble with any of the set pieces. After the first half, United just focused on defending which was a good tactic considering they want to stay undefeated. Tottenham, being a team who focuses a lot on attacking, having the two wingers, two forwards, two attacking mids, and two wing backs, leaving just the two center defense and goalie, just couldn’t break through. All in all, the two teams were pretty equal.

Looking at United’s main defensive players, they were a mess. Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, all experienced players, did not play up to par and for Rafael, the Right Wing Back, getting a red card wasn’t in the best intentions for United either. The first yellow card he got was undoubtedly a yellow, but the second was debatable, but either way, he got it and United needed to make up for it. Wayne Rooney kicked his defensive skills into high gear and took over Rafael’s position. Vidic was alright, but he didn’t seem as experienced because he would rather just kick the ball out of bounds rather than passing it up field. As for the midfield, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher were decent in midfield, but they weren’t as effective as they normally are. Edwin Van Der Sar had a huge effect on United’s tie. If it wasn’t for him, there would have definitely been a goal for the spurs. Nani on the left wing had some nice plays but was subbed off in the 62nd minute for Anderson. Ryan Giggs on the other hand played his 600th club game, and played phenomenally. He continues to surprise everyone who has been watching United in their past few games. When Rooney took over the defensive position, Giggs took up a forward position as well as the wing position. I think Giggs was United’s best player on the field because he also had to defend against Lennon. Looking at United’s forwards, Rooney, played a great first half as a forward, but broke down in the beginning of the second, but when he had to play defense, he played well. Berbatov on the other hand, didn’t play a good game at all. It seemed like he was one step behind of the play every time he had someone pass to him. Tottenham could easily pick off the ball every time. He was subbed off in the 79th minute for Chicharito, who played a decent match, but to be honest, I expected more attacking opportunities from him.

When you look at Tottenham’s team, there wasn’t a player who I thought didn’t play well. Goal keeper Heurelho Gomes played a great game. I caught myself yelling at my TV every time he snagged the ball from United’s forwards. Hutton and Dawson were great, and it was hard for United to get through their defensive wall. Gallas and Assou-Ekotto made some great runs forward. Especially Assou-Ekotto, he gave Rafeal lots of trouble, which ended with Rafael’s sending off. Midfielders Lennon, Modric and Bale all had an awesome game. They had great passing with each other and set up great opportunities for the forwards. Modric was the center of the passing, controlling a lot of the attacking opportunities. Bale was the main crossing player. I have noticed that Lennon has trouble crossing. He does occasionally, but would rather try to get around the defender and give a short and low pass. This didn’t work that well for him this game, but he still held the ball well against Giggs and Evra. In my opinion, Palacios didn’t play that well because he didn’t seem to cause us that much trouble. He didn’t make many mistakes so it wasn’t the fact that he didn’t play well, it just wasn’t threatening. Peter Crouch was another average player against United. He didn’t any threatening opportunities in front of the goal. The Spur’s other forward, Van Der Vaart, was a huge threat against United. Not so much with the free kicks, but definitely with open play shots. All in all, Tottenham should have been the better team, with one extra player and attacking most of the game, but they couldn’t shut down and in the end it only got them one point.

I think Ferguson planned for just one point by defending because he knows how much of a threat Tottenham are this season. He didn’t want to expose their defense by focusing on attacking, instead he was okay with taking a tie, and I think in United’s position it was a smart move. They are two games behind and tied with title contenders and rivals Manchester City and they are unbeaten this season. It was definitely a smart move. Redknapp was also smart about setting up his team against United by telling the team to focus on attacking. He knew United don’t want to lose a game, so they would normally go up against title contenders, trying to tie, rather than go for the win. Even though United managed a tie against the Spurs, Redknapp doesn’t think this unbeaten streak will go on for long.

“I couldn’t say they (United) are on another level and are going to walk away with the title. I can’t see them going to year unbeaten. There are lots of teams who could beat them on any given day.”

“You can’t be as good a team as you were a year or two ago when you had (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Carlos) Tevez. I think other teams have improved and gotten closer to them, but at the moment they are still top of the pile after losing players like that” (SingTel BPL for Blackberry)

Redknapp makes a good point about losing Tevez and Ronaldo, but I don’t agree with the statement that teams have gotten better. Besides Tottenham, there aren’t really any new title contenders. Liverpool have not been up to par, and really have looked like an average EPL team this season. Chelsea started of strong, but for some reason, they aren’t playing to their full potential. Man City are still a work in progress, definitely a threat, but still not the best, losing some easy games. Arsenal is a defiantly a team to watch out for, but we beat them earlier this season. I think it is possible for United to go unbeaten, but only if they start to play with some more threatening tactics by passing a lot more, but cut the sloppy passes that they have been known for in the past few games. If they get their act together not only could they go undefeated, but they could also win a lot more than just settling for a tie. Right winger, Valencia will be back soon and hopefully he will add a great attacking factor to the team that they seem to have lost.

Check out the full highlights here:


How do you think United will finish the season?
-JoeyB