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MOTD: Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

By on March 15, 2015

What changed?  Manchester United have not been as convincing since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson: everything just clicked.  Three first half goals marked by far their best half — and match, for that matter — so far this season. Tottenham were left to watch the puppet show that United ran.

So it’s not a rhetorical question, as for United, pinpointing the source of this change could be the key to turning around their season. If Louis Van Gaal has finally found a system that makes his side click, the possibilities could be limitless for United. When Harry Kane whiffed a pass early in the second half, Daley Blind was so quick to get out of a tight space via a one-two with Ashley Young, that Kane then fell flat on his face as United penetrated higher up the pitch.  The episode was emblematic of the night.

Everyone in the United lineup was in sync and in tune — even the partnership of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones kept David De Gea, so often United’s savior, from much work at all. One of the Spaniard’s few saves came from Jones’s heavy backpass early on. Smalling was scarcely more than a few feet from Kane, who was made ineffective all match.

So much was made of Van Gaal finding a system that can fit United’s stars into one lineup; indeed, this may just have been the key today. In a 4-3-3, United’s numerical advantage in attack was all too apparent, and only further emphasized by the performances of Daley Blind, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini. By pushing Wayne Rooney up front — a decision that paid surplus dividends — and Blind into a left-back position, Van Gaal had room for a midfield trio of Fellaini, Herrera, and Carrick. Fellaini found plentiful space in-between Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker in Tottenham’s back-line, just behind Ryan Mason. Carrick and Blind had a field day picking out the Belgian, as well as Rooney’s diagonal runs. Ashley Young was dominant down United’s favored left wing, and one can only imagine the football United could be capable of when Angel Di Maria returns from suspension and presumably slots into that position.

Mason and Nabil Bentaleb were, on paper, meant to anchor Tottenham in defense, sitting just in front of their back line, but were drawn out of the game by a simple one-two on countless occasions. The same applied all across the pitch. Tottenham were reduced to shambles, and even a tactical substitute from Mauricio Pochettino just a half-hour in did naught to change the face of the match.

United dominated the opening quarter-hour, and struck before Tottenham could settle into the game: just right minutes in, Blind found the run of Carrick into a pocket of space front of Tottenham’s penalty area, where the Englishman poked a pass right into the feet of Fellaini in behind Vertonghen. Fellaini took it across his feet and dragged a low, composed effort into the bottom left corner. Spurs were quickly caught flat, and not ten minutes later United doubled their lead. Fellaini got above Eric Dier at the far post to header Rooney’s corner back down into the mixer, before Mason’s half-cleared volley floated nicely in front of Carrick, who slammed a bullet header into the bottom left corner.

And before Tottenham could even begin to fix the gaping holes in their defense, Rooney made it three just thirty-four minutes in. He intercepted Bentaleb’s poor square pass, muscled his way by three defenders, then got on the wrong side of Vertonghen and tucked a low finish into the bottom corner. Rooney celebrated lightheartedly, mocking the rumored punch-up he had at the weekend, but his finish really was the knockout blow against Spurs. The forward volleyed Fellaini’s cross just wide soon afterward, and United went into the break with nearly sixty-percent of possession having kept Spurs from registering a single shot.

United could afford to relax in the second half, and while still looking dangerous down the left — Herrera came close from Blind’s far-post cross — sat back and played mostly on the counter. Van Gaal had the luxury of giving youngster Andreas Pereira some playing time as a substitute, as well. De Gea’s single save of the game came with just two minutes to go, the game long over as a contest, stopping Kane’s low effort with his feet.
Man of the Match: Marouane Fellaini

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.