It’s important with games like these that we don’t seek to evaluate matters in splendid isolation. Tottenham’s track record against this lot is resoundingly poor. We’ve lost more Premier League against Manchester United than any other side in the competition (34).
Further context can be readily found from talking to any Man United fan you might know who will willingly tell you that last night was one of the best starts, and best overall performances this season.
Considering these two boring elements, some hysterics doing the rounds this morning, about the ‘Honeymoon’ being suddenly over, look a bit risible, which is what they are.
Breathing life into an extremely stale squad is what Jose was drafted in to do, and last night, the Portuguese was shown in no uncertain terms that this particular set up – is a non starter.
My guess is that Jose watched us play under Poch, and felt that if he could reach out to the boys and develop the mindset of the collective, then the squad limitations could be eased.
Already we’ve seen Dele Alli turn into a genuine superstar and Toby Alderweireld talk about Jose in glowing terms.
Alas, 3 bad bets exist in this Tottenham side Mourinho which has inherited, and this trio, like the witches in Macbeth, are bad enough to bring about the downfall of anyone.
The Winks/Sissoko axis is a horrible one. One glance at the Influence graphic reveals a midfield one could drive a horse and cart through. And Manchester United did just that. One several occasions.
This in turn placed a terrible amount of pressure on our backline, which neither Toby nor Davinson survived whilst smelling of roses.
Then we had Lucas Moura on the park for far too long doing far too little. 18 attempted passes, of which 14 were successful.
Which all too uncomfortably, leads us onto Giovani Lo Cleso who is looking decidedly like a mystery. This is a player who stinks to high heaven of bemusement that he’s with us.
Watching Jose go ‘full Poch’ and toss him on for the last few minutes without any obvious plan more than suggests that this boy won’t be in February.
Conclusion
Once can cope with a duff performance as Mourinho finds his feet, but know this. One cannot cope with a manager of Jose’s dimensions repeating such mistakes again.