In the short history of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it is hard to recall as toxic an atmosphere as the one which soured the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday. None of it was directed at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Nuno cannot possibly survive this. Spurs were not only jeered off at half-time, full-time, but at various intervals in between – and as Lucas Moura’s number came up in lights and one of the last remaining hopes of actually mustering a shot on target was removed from the pitch, it felt like the turning point. “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang out from the South Stand, made up almost entirely of season-ticket holders. “We want Nuno out” sounded from pockets elsewhere throughout the second half.
Solskjaer can hardly have believed his luck when he checked the fixture list after his own lowest ebb against Liverpool a week ago. It was the customary skin-saving performance from Cristiano Ronaldo, but this time there was a twist. The 36-year-old’s opening moment of magic, a first-time volley to the far corner of Hugo Lloris’ goal, was not just a dash of individual brilliance, but the product of a fundamental change in system.
As he has done so often when his job has been on the line, the United boss opted for three at the back. In a game he simply couldn’t afford to lose, it was no coincidence the visitors began with seven defensive players on the pitch and the oldest starting XI Solskjaer has ever picked during his time in charge. With a front two of Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani – combined age, 70 – it would fall to Bruno Fernandes to conjure creativity. It worked, too. The playmaker’s chipped ball over the Spurs back line left Ben Davies floundering and Ronaldo did the rest. The Portuguese duo then combined again in the run-up to Cavani’s goal.
If this is to be United’s formation going forward, and it is one with which they have only ever lost four times under Solskjaer, it leaves two big questions. Where was this discipline not just against Liverpool, but on countless other occasions when they displayed the deep structural problems that will not be fixed with one emphatic win over the most lifeless and passive iteration of post-Pochettino Tottenham Hotspur yet. Those glaring defensive issues, not remotely exploited by Harry Kane – booed, incidentally, by his once faithful supporters on his 350th club appearance – will come up again soon.
The second conundrum concerns the wide men – Jadon Sancho did not get on the pitch, Marcus Rashford did and showed he’d been watching Cavani as he pulled a similar trick on Eric Dier and Emerson Royal to break in between the lines for the third goal.
How to utilise Sancho, Rashford and even Mason Greenwood are problems Solskjaer can weigh up another day. For now, his job is safe and in this unfortunately dubbed “El Sackicko”, it was his opposite number who was left fielding questions about his future.
Nuno filled nobody with confidence when asked if he believes he’ll be given time to get it right. “I’m only thinking about the next training session,” he sighed, with the air of a man who was at best, Daniel Levy’s fifth choice for the job. “The booing and disappointment of the fans is understandable… In a humble way, I ask our fans to keep supporting us so we can change.” Both these managers have been accused of tactical ineptitude but Nuno does not have the luxury of changing things around. Kane is still Spurs’ only senior striker and the decision to ditch Sergio Reguilon – one of their only players inclined to carry the ball forward – backfired spectacularly.
Even if it’s accepted that United fans’ adoration of Solskjaer is steeped in misguided if forgivable nostalgia, as the flares fizzed and the manager’s name rang out from the away end it was at least a reminder that watching football is supposed to be fun. Yet long after the final whistle had gone, there were a handful of home supporters still remonstrating with stewards about their villainous chairman.
Raphael Varane’s return alongside Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire will be crucial if United are to solidify the defence going forward. The Frenchman largely kept Spurs at bay, though there was a moment of alarm when Son Heung-min broke through for the hosts’ first big chance – given David de Gea’s record at the near post, had he kept his shot down he would surely have had a chance of breaking the deadlock. But for the first time in eight years, since Andre Villas-Boas oversaw a 5-0 defeat to Liverpool just before his Christmas sacking, Spurs failed to hit the target with a single attempt.
That is where the fury directed at Nuno stems from and from which he will find it almost impossible to bounce back. Apathy has been the defining characteristic at Spurs since the early evening of 19 November 2019, when “Mauricio leaves club” was plastered across the club’s communication channels. At least the 60,000+ inside the ground were finally able to feel something.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3CxQcV8
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