Manchester United 0 Tottenham 3: tactical analysis

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Manchester United were beaten 3-0 at home in the Premier League for the second time in succession, with Tottenham the gleeful victors on this occasion. Both sides went into the game in mid-table, but this win lifted Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs to within three points of fourth place after six fixtures. For Erik ten Hag and Manchester United, it was a shambolic display that will only increase the pressure on manager and team, after a poor start to their league campaign. 

Tottenham were excellent value for their victory. They took the lead after three minutes through Brennan Johnson, after centre-back Micky van de Ven had been able to run from deep inside his own half to assist. Manchester United’s task was made harder when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off shortly before the break, but by then they could and should have been further behind.

Dejan Kulusevski duly doubled Spurs’ lead almost immediately after the break. Despite a second-half spell in which United’s 10 players showed some endeavour, a Dominic Solanke finish rounded off the scoring.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed the tactics from this rather one-sided game…

How the managers saw it

“It was clear we started the game very poor,” said Ten Hag. “Then concede a goal from a counter-attack where a centre-half is crossing the whole pitch…

“From that point on, we are very stressful in the game and in possession. We didn’t find the spare man in the switch, bad decision-making, we couldn’t keep the ball, not aggressive enough or to play around with third-man actions, too many ball losses and also we didn’t get the press right. Then the red card, we are downsized and it also has a big impact in the game.”

“From the first minute we were at it,” said Postecoglou. “Really aggressive without the ball, positive with the ball, won our duels, aggressive in everything we did. I’m just super-proud of the boys’ efforts. Their red card is a consequence of our dominance, we put them under so much pressure, they couldn’t really get out of their half.”

Starting line-ups

Manchester UnitedTottenham Hotspur

242064325371081711123173713302110192216

Manchester United4-2-3-1

Tottenham Hotspur4-3-3

24André Onana

1Guglielmo Vicario

20Diogo Dalot

23Pedro Porro

6Lisandro Martínez

17Cristian Romero

4Matthijs de Ligt

37Micky van de Ven

3Noussair Mazraoui

13Destiny Udogie

25Manuel Ugarte

21Dejan Kulusevski

37Kobbie Mainoo

30Rodrigo Bentancur

10Marcus Rashford

10James Maddison

8Bruno Fernandes

22Brennan Johnson

17Alejandro Garnacho

19Dominic Solanke

11Joshua Zirkzee

16Timo Werner

Central-midfield overload for Spurs

Tottenham’s 4-3-3 shape immediately overloaded Manchester United’s 4-4-2 defensive shape, with James Maddison and Kulusevski very fluid in their individual movements. Whenever United’s front line narrowed to screen access into pivot Rodrigo Bentancur, Maddison dropped out of the central spaces to receive freely (below). From there, he could combine with the centre-backs and narrowing full-backs to easily build around United’s block. With time on the ball, Maddison also began to connect with the high and wide wingers, pinning United’s back line.

This quality possession continued for Spurs, with full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie narrowing much earlier to provide more central passing options around United’s two deeper central midfielders. This eventually dragged Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho inside, limiting the central access Tottenham had to combine. But it also opened passing lanes from the centre-backs and Bentancur into wingers Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner. The latter pair’s pace and direct dribbling helped Spurs attack around United’s unconvincing 4-4-2 block, with Maddison – now positioned higher within the left inside channel (below) – becoming a key creative threat in the final third. Spurs managed 12 first-half shots, although they only managed to score once.

In addition to their quality on the ball, Tottenham’s high press was very effective in limiting the opposition’s build-up. Solanke locked the play one way, forcing United’s centre-backs to play around. Tottenham’s full-back and winger pairings then jumped, to duel near the touchline. When United worked the ball inside, aiming to utilise Dalot’s inverting movements from left-back, Kulusevski and Maddison pressed on to United’s deepest central options. Bentancur plus one of Spurs’ centre-backs then supported the central press (below), which did leave plenty of space behind. They were fully committed to the high press, though, which was more often than not successful.

United go direct to the wide areas

The home side’s build-up play was so poor that they were unable to beat the high press with any consistency. As such, they soon targeted wide areas, via direct long balls from the back and from midfield regains, to instigate quick and direct counter-attacks. Garnacho and Rashford looked to attack the space behind Tottenham’s very high line, driving at their opponents to get into the final third as efficiently as they could. When United regained possession in the middle third, the inverting Spurs full-backs also gave the home side’s wingers ideal space to run into. Indeed, this was United’s only real outlet for most of the first half.

United struggled to play through a Spurs midfield that was particularly compact. As such, switches of play helped find their wingers, to attack the opposing full-backs 1v1 (below). Although this did help progress the ball up the pitch – and led to Rashford crossing for Garnacho to hit the post – United lacked numbers in attack. Their deeper passing was so unconvincing that they required extra players to drop deep, in order to keep the ball long enough to be able to work an accurate switch of play. This naturally meant fewer numbers high up the pitch to attack Tottenham’s back line. It was damning that the only other noteworthy chance for Ten Hag’s team in the first period came when Spurs were briefly down to 10 players, due to an Udogie injury.

10 versus 11 

United were reduced to 10 players following Fernandes’ challenge on Maddison. Instead of sitting in a low block, though, they committed to defending relatively high. Mason Mount was added to their front unit, where he pressed alongside Rashford and Garnacho. With just Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte then covering between and into the wide areas, Tottenham’s back line expanded to play around and drag United across the pitch. Bentancur dropped into the back line when needed, to further stretch United’s attempted press and enable Spurs to find their spare central midfielder to switch the play (below). It wasn’t long before they scored a crucial second goal.

United did find some momentum to attack at 2-0 down, despite being a player short. But Tottenham regained composure on the ball – and control – as they began to switch play around United again. Maddison, Werner and substitute Djed Spence attacked as a trio on the left, fluidly rotating to exploit around United’s right side.

On the Spurs right, Bentancur moved across, joining Porro and Johnson to provide similar support and attacking patterns to those seen on the left. United continued to defend with only two central midfielders, meaning Kulusevski had licence to run through the centre and work closer to Solanke (below).

Spurs continued to make chances throughout the second period, eventually adding a third from a corner, but should really have added more. Nonetheless, they came away as buoyed by their performance as Manchester United were deflated.

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Author: The Coaches' Voice