Manchester United squeak past Tottenham: 3 things we learned
Manchester United beat Tottenham 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday. Here are three things we learned.
Manchester United earned a huge win against Tottenham on Saturday, running out 1-0 winners thanks to Anthony Martial’s late goal. The match was a hardly a classic, but Jose Mourinho will be delighted with the three points following last week’s loss away to Huddersfield. Here are three things we learned from the match.
1. Jose Mourinho is still the king of the 1-0 win
Jose Mourinho was widely criticized for Manchester United’s defense first, second and third approach away to Liverpool two weeks ago. There’s no shame in sitting deep at Anfield, seemed to be the thinking, but the complete lack of ambition on the counter-attack was taken as evidence the Special One is too cautious in big matches to seriously challenge for the title.
A home match against Tottenham would have been the perfect opportunity to make amends, for Mourinho to show that he can set up a team to attack when he wants to. United were more ambitious against Spurs, especially in the second half, but Mourinho’s natural caution in these matches was still on display.
Mourinho has said in the past that winning 1-0 is easy for him, and after performances like this, it’s hard not to feel that statement was more than his usual media shenanigans. This wasn’t a vintage United performance, but it was a vintage Mourinho performance: solid at the back and just good enough going forward.
A 0-0 draw would probably have been a fair result on the balance of play, and would likely have been met with a similar round of questions to the one that followed the Liverpool match. Is Mourinho too cautious against elite teams? How long can the manager of Manchester United get away with such a dull approach to the game?
As always, winning solves everything. Mourinho’s never going to fully embrace United’s attacking traditions, but he’s going to win a lot of games. That’s the tradeoff United made when they hired him, and whether you like his approach or not, this was another piece in a long, long line of evidence that it works.