Tottenham 1 Manchester United 0: tactical analysis

Tottenham were delighted to have edged this Premier League meeting of two clubs who have found bright spots difficult to come by this season. Indeed, for Spurs it was a first home win in the league in eight games, stretching back to November 3. For Manchester United, it was a 12th defeat of a miserable Premier League campaign as Ruben Amorim struggles to find solutions to their many problems.

For this fixture, part of the problem for Amorim was having to name an inexperienced bench due to illness and injuries, with Victor Lindelöf the only substitute over the age of 19. Sympathy was in short supply from Tottenham, however, whose own injury crisis has begun to ease after an extended period without key players. “Welcome to my world,” was Ange Postecoglou’s post-match response to United’s injury problems, while calling it an “enormous boost” to see his own options increase.

The return of Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison proved to be the difference for Tottenham. Their goalkeeper made important saves to preserve a clean sheet, while Maddison scored the winner. Tottenham were also grateful for some wasteful finishing from United, particularly when Alejandro Garnacho fired over from a golden opportunity to equalise shortly after going behind.

Spurs had plenty of efforts at goal themselves, but in the end only needed one to secure a first league double over United since 1990. Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have picked out the tactical highlights from a nail-biting encounter in North London…

How the managers saw it

“We needed to put in a performance today to get us the result and I think we did that,” said Postecoglou. “That, coupled with the fact that we’ve got some significant players back and they got through the game – they got through unscathed and really contributed – it was important for us.”

“The biggest difference of the game, they [Tottenham] scored and we didn’t,” said Amorim. “We had the opportunities to score, then in the first half we pushed a little bit harder. We suffered in some transitions trying to get a result, but in the end they scored and we didn’t.”

Spurs exploiting wide left

Manchester United defended the first half almost exclusively in a low block, forming a 5-1-3-1 shape (below). Casemiro operated as the pivot ahead of the back line of five, often unattached and unable to get across to defensively support the wide areas. With Spurs working the ball across the pitch with relative ease, Bruno Fernandes and Garnacho also found it difficult to cover and manage the wide spaces. This meant that even when the away side defended well, individually, or the midfield unit pressed with purpose, Spurs could easily get out to the wide areas. Djed Spence in particular had joy on the left throughout the first half.

Spence often carried the ball into the vacant wide-left areas. With Son Heung-min staying near the touchline, pinning his marker Diogo Dalot, Spence could then drive inwards on to his stronger right foot. Maddison, meanwhile, dropped to the left from within Spurs’ 4-3-3 structure, dragging Fernandes out and creating further room for Spence to advance into. With Joshua Zirkzee covering Rodrigo Bentancur, United’s midfield couldn’t shuffle across to deal with this significant gap (below). This meant that United’s back line simply waited to be attacked, with the home side managing to work frequent crosses, from which Maddison’s rebound put them ahead early on.

Garnacho in behind

Despite defending most of the first half in a low block, United’s isolated attacks proved just as dangerous as Tottenham’s. Whenever they regained high – or Casemiro and Fernandes connected in rare spells of sustained United possession – Garnacho’s runs in behind exploited the disconnected Tottenham back line (below). Zirkzee also operated slightly deeper, dropping to support United’s midfield pair and helping to create the gap for Garnacho to run into.

United started the second half well, committing to press and defend higher. They also engaged the wide areas earlier, making use of their wide centre-backs defending into midfield. This nullified Spurs compared to the first half; although the hosts still created chances, none were clear-cut. United’s midfield pair could then connect higher up the pitch for longer, with Fernandes’ passing range helping penetrate Tottenham’s midfield trio. Despite the visitors being initially underloaded, Zirkzee’s dropping continued to provide an additional link to the front-line runners. Garnacho, however, again failed to convert a good chance after running beyond with 54 minutes gone (below).

United adaptations on their right

As United gathered momentum, creating more from possession in midfield, Dalot found key spaces to attack from the right side. United’s front line – including Zirkzee and Rasmus Højlund – were the ideal profile for attacking early crosses. But Dalot didn’t take advantage of opportunities to cross when Spurs’ back line were recovering back and not set. Fernandes duly began to support wider, either underlapping Dalot or supporting alongside, to deliver from a narrowed position. At the far post, Patrick Dorgu and Garnacho were ready to attack the ball, or collect any overhit deliveries (below).

Spurs responded to United’s wide-right play by tracking Fernandes’ narrowed runs forward. Right side centre-back Noussair Mazraoui then joined attacks for United, providing crosses when Fernandes was unable to. Although this wide trio of Mazraoui, Dalot and Fernandes worked balls into the penalty area, Spurs defended with every player back inside their own defensive third. And despite United’s right-side growing in support and confidence, they were unable to fashion an equaliser.

Although United worked fewer attempts overall than Spurs, they did create the more dangerous moments in the second half. That may be of some consolation for Amorim, as he seeks to turn things around amid United’s ongoing struggles. For Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham, it remains to be seen whether this result will represent a corner turned, but it was certainly a very welcome three points.

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