Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United: goalkeepers rarely tested
The starting line-ups
A contest that never really took off.
Harry Redknapp played the usual 4-4-1-1. Peter Crouch was preferred to Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, whilst Wilson Palacios got the nod over Jermaine Jenas.
Sir Alex Ferguson went with a 4-4-2 from the start, with few surprises. Edwin van der Sar returned in goal, and Ryan Giggs started on the left.
The first ten minutes suggested this was going to be a cracking game – both sides wanted to attack, both pressed high up the pitch, and both played direct football down the flanks.
Bale v Rafael
The most eagerly-anticipated battle was Gareth Bale up against Rafael. The Brazilian right-back had subdued Bale well at Old Trafford earlier in the season when Balemania was at its peak, and he seemed determined to deal with Bale in a positive, aggressive way. Rather than sitting back level with his centre-backs, Rafael took the initiative and pushed forward when United had the ball – often with solo runs himself – pushing Bale back into his own half of the pitch.
It was a similar attitude when it came to dispossessing Bale – although he was beaten a couple of times early on, Rafael played on the front foot and looked to stop the service into the Welshman, and made more interceptions than successful tackles in the game. The tendency to play like this contributed to his two bookings, though – he went chasing a ball he didn’t need to in the first half, then was shown a second yellow for a trip when caught too high up the pitch.
Fletcher
Rafael did particularly well because United were rarely able to double up against Bale. Often, when United face a tricky left-winger they are keen to get Darren Fletcher out to support the full-back (see how Fletcher helped Gary Neville against the threat of Ronaldinho last season), but with just a two-man central midfield pairing, Fletcher’s job was about closing down Luka Modric. Fletcher is usually made for games like this, but was relatively poor today – Modric played in a deep position and Fletcher was rarely in a position to put pressure on him. The Croatian was by far the best player in the midfield zone.
Another case of not doubling up was on the flank where Nani was stationed, with Redknapp having a lot of faith in Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s capability at left-back. Luckly, Assou-Ekotto had a good game – unlike Rafael he took a conservative approach and waited for Nani to try and beat him, but Nani was off-form and was a peripheral figure here.
Lack of creativity
The game suffered because none of the creative players (with the exception of Modric, positioned very deep) were on form. Bale and Aaron Lennon’s crossing was generally poor, Nani was invisible, Ryan Giggs was tidy but nothing more. Rafael van der Vaart struggled for space and drifted into wide areas, whilst Crouch’s knock-downs rarely found their intended target. Wayne Rooney had another disappointing afternoon – he didn’t take a couple of early chances and he misplaced too many passes, finishing with just a 50% completion rate.
Second half switches
Things threatened to get interesting when Ferguson introduced Anderson for Nani, pushing Rooney to the right of a 4-2-3-1. It’s possible to argue otherwise, but this seemed like a defensive move from United, as if Ferguson was scared of Modric and wanted another body in the centre of the pitch to contain him.
Anderson and Giggs both played in centre-left positions and allowed space on the right for Alan Hutton to motor into, meaning that, after the switch, Spurs focused their passing down the right.
11 v 10
Rafael’s dismissal meant Spurs were even more dominant. Redknapp threw on Defoe in place of Wilson Palacios, as Spurs went 4-4-2 with two strikers, two wingers and two creative midfielders. Ferguson brought on Javier Hernandez to provide energy, in place of Berbatov and he occupied Spurs’ centre-backs well, whilst also helping out defensively.
In the end, Spurs simply could create good enough chances, mainly thanks to Nemanja Vidic, who had a superb game at the back. Crosses continued to come into the box but neither striker could get free from their marker. The best chance fell to van der Vaart, who curled over the top.
Conclusion
Relatively little to analyse here. Neither side did enough with the ball and the result was a frustrating game.
United got four shots on target – three were hopeful attempts from long range by Rooney, another an ambitious effort from an impossible angle by Rafael. Spurs, despite dominating much of the game, failed to test Edwin van der Sar from open play – the Dutchman was only called into action by two (tame) free-kicks from van der Vaart and then Bale.
Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United: goalkeepers rarely tested
Pedantic point: The foul that brought Rafael’s second yellow was on Benoit Assou-Ekotto, not on Bale. The point still stands about him getting caught up the pitch.
You’re right, thanks!
Crouch should never have played 90 mins, Pavluychenko offers a bit more intelligence in the final 3rd where as crouch just stands still and offers very little in terms of link up play.
And surely his team mates must realise that he is terrible in the air by now?
Crouch is good in certain games. Against Vidic and Ferdinand though, forget it.
I reckon Harry expected Man Utd to push high on the defence, and so Crouch was there as the outlet for the long ball from deep. Still, he might’ve taken him off late on.
ZM – I thought both sides defended reasonably well though. Evra did very well against Lennon and managed to get forward sometimes nevertheless.
Big fan of the website.
Agree with the fact the abscence of creativity led to the result, Manchester United’s central midfielders particularly guilty of showing an inability for progressive passing, or playing “1-2s”. As for Fletcher’s poor performance, could I suggest that this is because his rise in status, has been based on playing in a three-man centre midfield where there is less responsibility for him to be creative, and a freedom to chase round the pitch closing down (and often fouling)people without leaving a glaring gap in centre-mid. Feel he’s been glorified and is alongside Carrick, possibly the weakest regular starter for Manchester United in centre midfield (or perhaps in any outfield posistion) in 20years. His break-through in the team was after the great success of 2008 CL final, and his absence in the 2009 final has created a myth that he was essential to United.
Your right that he is much better in a 3 man midfield, but then that is the perfect type of player for a 3 man midfield. Gattusso made a name for himself in that position and Fletchers energy usually helps to give carrick more time on the ball when there’s 3 so its not a bad thing (much like gattusso/pirlo). He has played as part of a 2 for most of the season as well for a side that is still unbeaten in the league so he cant be that bad.
I agree fully about the 2/3 midfield thing. Much like Meireles as mentioned earlier, Fletcher’s inherently a runner, and suited to a three-man midfield with someone creating and someone holding
Good point here about Fletcher at the end. Agreed – I just think he leaves a lot to be desired technically and contributes little more than key fouls and a bit of midfield energy. He is also excessively petulant and mouthy (like the rest of the mouthy United players taking their cues from the biggest mouth of them all, Rio Ferdinand).
Carrick is pretty average too I have to say. A midfield duo of them two will get eaten up for breakfast by any decent side, and I’m looking forward to the Champions League demonstrating this in due course.
Somebody’s bitter that their team’s not at the top.
We can point to Fletcher’s technical deficiencies all day but what must not be overlooked is his sheer will to win and desire – he sets the tone for Manchester United to snarl, kick and refuse to be beaten. I support Arsenal and it is easy to scoff at Fletcher miscontrolling a ball or misplacing simple passes. However, everytime we play United, Fletcher seems to dominate Fabregas – will overpowering skill. He is not the best player in the league – but I would suggest that he is one of the most effective.
One point, and a question:
First, it may have been a defensive move to bring on Anderson and switch to a 4-2-3-1, but it was almost certainly the correct move. As you rightly point out, Modric usually sat deep, and Fletcher usually didn’t push far enough forward to close him down. Meanwhile, neither Rooney nor Berbatov looked interested in dropping deeper and trying to win it off him. Anderson’s introduction in the middle was the answer, and if not for Rafael’s sending-off, I think United may have been able to push for a winner in the final few minutes.
Second, and more generally, both of these teams (and especially Tottenham) played a very traditional “English 4-4-2″ formation. Instead of inverting their wingers and having them cut into channels, Bale and Lennon both stayed as wide as possible and tried to get to the by-line to cross. Meanwhile, neither team played with an anchor-man, preferring 2 central midfielders. Without an anchor man, the fullbacks couldn’t get forward as much as they might like, or if they did they were often caught out of position (this was the reason for both of Rafael’s cards, IMO). As the Champion’s League knockout games are coming for both teams, I’m wondering how, or if, both teams will adapt their tactics to deal with Continental opposition. Redknapp seems pretty wedded to this system, and in fairness I think it suits his players very well. Manchester, however, don’t seem entirely comfortable in this formation, and the “Modric problem” is bound to pop up again in Europe. Curious for ZM’s and other’s thoughts.
I remember Ferguson saying after putting Berbatov on the bench for the Arsenal game, that sometimes they needed to field a three man midfield, and when they do, rooney is the prefered lone forward, and I think this is what United will also do in the CL
I don’t think there is much doubt that Ferguson will switch to 4-3-3 in Europe. He rarely ever goes that way against Spurs.
I fell asleep after about 20 minutes of the first half, not because the game was so bad, more the fact I was tired from a trip to Sheffield the day before!
I woke up for the second half, and from what I saw, Carrick had a good game in the centre he was making blocks and interceptions and keeping posession nicely, I won’t go on about it again, but how the hell does Barry get in the England team ahead of him. Vidic was immense as usual, and Rio did well alongside him. Do any ZM readers think United could actually do the whole season unbeaten? I don’t think there getting the credit they deserve. There not beating teams by 4/5 goals, Blackburn aside, but the organisation and the discipline is very impressive, and I don’t think there’s a better defence in world football.
As for Spurs, I would of taken Crouch off around the 65 minute mark, brought on Pav, and also Defoe for VDV. Similar to Ancelotti’s decision to use Anelka as a trequarsita against United in the April game last year, Pav actually plays this role quite well. And have Defoe running and moving at United for the last 20 minutes, he wasn’t given enough time today, and a Defoe/Pav combination late on would have caused United alot more problems IMO.
Bringing me to my next point, what do ZM readers think about Redknapp being the next England manager? Personally, I can’t see anyone better than him, but I don’t think he’s an outstanding manager. His tactics are underated, he isn’t completely like Maradona for example, as in he just sends out his team with a host of attacking options and hopes for the best, but despite having underated tactical knowledge, by no means do I think he is a great tactician, take today for example, Crouch was ineffective up against Rio and Vidic, but no change was made until very late on in proceedings.
If we have to stay English it’s hard to see past Redknapp, to be honest…
Neil Warnock
ha ha ha!! well, it would be entertaining.
Ian Holloway…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was shocked to see Crouch come out of the tunnel after half time, to be honest. I think Pavlyuchenko for Crouch would have been a smart substitution at that point. Pav has many of the same weaknesses of Crouch, but he can at least strike the ball well and he’ll occasionally pull a ridiculous goal out of seemingly nothing.
But the fact is, Vidic was a monstrous beast today and I’m not so sure any substitution would have done the trick…bringing Defoe on earlier wouldn’t have really done anything because there was simply no space at all. Spurs really needed a wondergoal or a penalty to get on the scoreboard today because they just couldn’t get any penetration up the middle and their delivery from the wide areas was mostly poor or dealt with by the aforementioned monstrous beast.
ZM if u could answer two questions, please
1 in ur opinion what kind of partner in central midfield would be ideal for modric ?
it seemed today that palacios passing was just not good enough to complement modric
2 suarez, could he play an out and out striker for spurs ?
thanks in advance
@delboy,
Carrick or Fletcher
Seriuously though, those two play best when they’re next to Scholes and he plays in that deep-lying mid role that Modric played in yesterday.
Of the players at Spurs full disposal, I prefer Huddlestone playing centrally with Modric. He is a big strong guy who seems to play with a more defensive mindset than Palacios. I feel Palacios comes forward too many times a match given how many attacking options Tottenham have, and I find myself angry with Palacios for an errant or wasted shot (if there is such a thing) more often than other players. As a disclaimer, I might be looking for it.
With regard to Suarez, I think without question he could play an out and out striker. However, that would seem to require a decision on Crouch, Pav & Defoe. One of those fellas would find themselves the odd man out. Despite Crouch’s highly debated merits on the pitch, to me, when he and VdV are clicking, that is the preferred combination. Suarez would sure make things interesting though. Bringing him on as a substitute, similarly to the way Spurs currently use Pav, would be something to see. I trust Harry.
United are becoming THE masters at stifling creativity and killing games. As against Arsenal, Fletcher and Carrick played so deep they were usually filling the gaps between United’s centre backs and full backs. Ferguson now relies on Rooney and his wide men for creativity. When they are not on form, he has a resilient, prosaic, defensive unit. They are a far cry from his teams in the early part of the last decade. This one is built on defence. What’s amazing is how seldom this is pointed out, and how much criticism Mancini gets for the same thing.
^_^
Yet the league’s leading scorers play for a manchester club…irony.
LOL, Judging from your posts you might just be a Man Utd fan? Stats like the one you cited are a funny thing… usually they can paint any picture you want them to, like Utd being an attacking team. Their top scorers are Berbatov (14), Nani (6), Hernandez (6), and Park Ji-Sung (4).
However, Berbatov has 14 goals, 5 of which came against Blackburn in that 7-1 blowout at home, 3 in a 3-2 win against Liverpool at home, and another 2 in a 2-0 win against Sunderland at home. He also has an additional 2 goals at home from other games. That’s 12 out of 14 goals at home, 10 of which came from 3 games.
That’s great for him and all, but that doesn’t make Utd an attacking team; it makes them the proud owner of a player that scores well at home against 3 specific teams who have conceded a combined 63 goals away from home (27, 21, and 15, respectively — for anyone wondering).
I totally agree. Infact, I think Ferguson is basing his success on defence after the 2006-07 season. Even when they had Ronaldo and Tevez (or rather, because?), the main goal is to stay compact and make themselves hard to breakdown, yet still able score so many goals because they are so frightening on the counter.
No, I don’t think so at all – because they don’t usually sit deep like, say, Inter under Jose. The main goal is to dominate possession by dominating centre midfield. Look at how high up the pitch Evra plays – he’s helping keep possession, not providing a solid defensive wall. This system is effective home and away, in the premier league and the champions league. It makes them versatile in that there are multiple ways of bringing the ball out from defence, and enables them to press easily in different parts of the pitch as needed.
I don’t think there is any doubt that United have put more emphasis on defence in recent seasons. When the opposition has the ball, especially quality opposition, the back four are shielded at very close range by at least 2 midfielders, often augmented by the two wide men. Any team seeking to score against them has to break through 6-8 defenders. The first occasion I noticed this approach was against Barcelona in the CL semi in 2008 (I think). Nowadays it is the default strategy when playing a team Ferguson considers a threat, or superior. It puts even more pressure on the likes of Nani and Rooney to create and take chances.
Mike Dean handed the game to Spurs on a platter and yet they couldn’t beat United. Buying a Real Madrid reject does not a Premier League title contender make.
I had a funny feeling the moment I saw Dean was going to be the ref. At least spurs fans will stop gawking about the ‘Gomez’ incident now. Or does it take a penalty for your strikers to actually score?
i know ZM doesn’t like debating ref-decisions, but still I want to respond.
dean handed tottenham nothing. rafael should have been sent off long before the second yellow. if the first challenge woudn’t have been reckless enough for a straight red (which it was) his whining demand of a yellow card for a foul on him should have been his second yellow. he got of the hook twice and then was booked for the second time for a foul that admittedly shouldn’t be a yellow card. besides, it was a mistake that he hadn’t been sent off against Liverpool the week before. so united can consider themselves lucky that their best player was even on the pitch for that long against spurs. it’s comical to see someone from the united camp to whine about referees considering the last weeks.
so seriously you want to go back to the previous game, from another tournament,against another team, where utd were at home? What are you a 16yr old girl?and when was the last time a player got carded for demanding a card? Cesc and Chamackh should be getting them every game,and what about managers? Ref decisions are like that,you win some and you loose some.get over it..
Yeah mate.. While the sending off was a poor decision, plenty of other poor decisions were made in United’s favor throughout the match. In general, their tackling was cynical, and they would have been lucky to finish with 11 men..
And then of course there’s history.. I think Spurs have still got a boatload of unused refereeing karma against United
ZM, your website goes from strength to strength. i’m a brit in exile in the US for eighteen years. i only bother with the guardian’s footy section and your site. there’s really nothing else worth reading.
keep up the good work!
You don’t enjoy the brilliant analysis on goal.com?
thanks for the recommendation – will check it out
I think he was being sarcastic haha. Goal.com is only really good for pointless transfer rumours and team line ups
ZM, can you do Real Madrid v Almeria? RM looked terrible. Do you think this was mainly due to Kaka’s return forcing Mou to drop Benzema and play CR as his number 9 or did Almeria do anything special?
I think a big part of the problem was the fact that ronaldo is very positionally indisciplined and kept tracking back into midfield so they effectively had four attacking midfielders so Almeria were forced to play deep (or else intended to) which didn’t help madrid at all so when one of the attacking madrid players had the ball they would have very few players to pass the ball forward to (and they are not anywhere near as patient as barcelona in their build up play) as usually only one of madrids players would move behind the holding midfieders and when they did they were totally surrounded so passes were either intercepted or the player would lose the ball from a tackle or even when they managed to keep it they little options presenting themselves. Also Alonso and Khedira were pressed intensely so the passes to the attacking midfielders were usually rather inaccurate so they would either have to take a few steps to get the ball (and become slightly less aware of aware there opponents and coleague’s positions and allow one of the opponents to get to him easier) and thats all if the Alonso and Khedira actually manage to keep the ball and make pass. Of course all this is what I believe generally happened as opposed to always happening. When Benzema came on He tended to stay high up the pitch further and stretched the pitch ever so slightly creating bigger gaps between the almeria defense and midfield making it easier to pass through and also he is probably better in situations where he’s crowded by defender’s anyway an example is the assist he gave to granero for the goal. After the goal went in which was quite poor defending there under alot of pressure as well which didn’t help them. Yhe game did get a little easier as it went on as Madrids holding midfielders were pressed less as a result of almeria tiring due to pressing them intensely and the attacking midfielders but madrid were under huge amount of pressure and Almeris deserve a huge amount of credit for defending so well also Madrid had alot of corners (which will occur naturally if the opposing team is defending deeply) and probably want to to improve these because if teams defend deeply against them in future they will probably want to improve their set play’s because you will get alot against these teams and if youscore it would totally change the game because they will naturally attack more. A couple of madrid players just played rather poorly anyway
I agree 100% about the lack of creativity. The four wingers on the pitch (very rare these days) all were not at their best with the four full backs all enjoying a comfortable afternoon and often ending up being their side’s most potent weapon going forward.
Crouch definitely stayed on too long for Spurs and was amazed that Defoe was not on earlier. Similarly I would have taken off Berbatov earlier and introduced Anderson (or done this from the start). The former Tottenham rarely produces the goods away from OT and was on the periphery of the game.
Vidic was an absolute colossus for United and it seems that handing him the captaincy has seen him move to the next level. He is very clever as he can get away with fouls on his opponent away from the eyes of the officials but if you want someone to defend for your life then he is your man.
Can anyone suggest a better centre back partnership than Vidic and Ferdinand? They compliment each other so well.
A strong United bench was also good to see and I am sure the genius Paul Scholes will be a massive boost to have back for SAF. His creativity from central midfield has been lacking over recent weeks.
Hummels and Subotic from Dortmund..not at the same level yet and not experienced enough,not tested in Champ league but for potential they are right up there..
Why do teams insist on crossing in the air against United?
As Arsenal discovered, this simply feeds Vidic/Rio who then spark United’s transition.
Interesting how little United play through midfield. With Nani having a bad day they are awful.
When Man Utd defend narrow and the centre so effectively, you have no choice but to go round them and cross.
Modric totally ran the game in the first half and was still doing so for a lot of the second. United could do with someone like him actually, without Scholes United lack flair in midfield and Modric has clearly got far, far more of that (and I daresay ability) than Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson. It’s a shame the forwards he has to create for at Spurs’ are mediocre IMO (unless we’re counting VDV as a forward).
Fletcher’s very good at what he does but I’m not sure we need both Carrick and Anderson. I do rate Carrick and think he’s been severely underrated over the years but it’s hard to see where he really fits in now particularly seeing as his form has severely dipped.
Yes this is true. However I think the main reason for this is the lack of a replacement for Scholes.
I think that when Scholes is fit, it allows United to play with 2 lines of playmaking, one in midfield, orchestrated through said player, and one further upfield as Rooney (and possibl Giggs) operating as a playmaker-forward.
However, in said player’s absence, the midfield is reduced to either Carrick, Fletcher or Anderson who simply do not have the quality to dictate the tempo of a game a la Scholes/Fabregas. Thus the midfield is reduced to a more workman-like role, and the speed of passing on the counter is heavily relied on to create opportunities.
There used to in the past a player called a trequartista that dictated play in midfield and Tottenham attempted one in the form of Modric but United haven’t had that player for a long time and the passing by their midfielders is not that good. United should try and invest in this type of player, there’s plenty of them in Argentina, Javier Pastori anyone.
Critical question about someone like Pastore is whether he can play in a deep playmaking Scholes-esque position. Unless he can, I don’t see how he’ll fit into a Ferguson-style United team. I guess he can play behind a striker in a 4-2-3-1, but that’s a system Fergie seldom uses. Even when he does, the player in that position is someone like Giggs or Anderson – who tend to spend a lot of time tracking back to help out the other two central midfielders or press the opposing holding midfielder.
In effect, it becomes more of a 4-1-4-1 than a 4-2-3-1, with two of the three central midfielders playing box-to-box either side of a holding player (usually Carrick), rather than one of them drifting around in the hole. I’m not sure that Ferguson really cares too much for players like Pastore or Ozil (who he’d be slightly more interested in because he can play on the wing as well).
Someone like Modric, on the other hand, would make him salivate – brilliant passer, nimble, has an eye for goal, and also oodles of work rate. Who else fits that bill? Iniesta? A young Deco? Samir Nasri, possibly? It’s hard to think of anyone who’s a viable purchase.
I haven’t really seen that much of Lazio’s Hernanes – is he that sort of player, or is he more in the mould of Xabi Alonso (less mobile, sits very deep)?
Pastore shouldn’t play deep midfield until he is in his 30s winding down his career. He simply has too much pace, dribbling and goalscoring ability to play anywhere but advanced midfield (or a supporting forward position).
Hernanes would be much better suited to a deep-lying role; it’s this position where he made a name for himself at Sao Paulo FC, despite now playing as a trequartista for Lazio. He’s not as explosive or as direct as Pastore but then he is more mobile and agile than Xabi Alonso (who is a more natural ‘pivot’ player). He can either sit alongside a tough enforcer (as does Modric alongside Palacios) in a duo or enjoy a more loosely defined role (as per Xavi,Iniesta and Fabregas) in a trio.
Nasri as a deep-lying playmaker? He seems such a good dribbler with a street footballer’s instinct that it would be a misuse to station him so deep – his strength is conducting the ball and laying on the final pass, and less so organising earlier on in midfield (though doubtlessly he could do a job there).
By the way, if Ferguson were to go shopping in Italy he could do worse than look at Pastore’s young teammate at Palermo, Armin Bacinovic, who plays this deeplying organisational role very capably.
Oh, I wasn’t saying that the deep role is Nasri’s best or ideal position, but merely listing some of the players whom I thought have both playmaking ability and work rate to play in a deep role, if needed. If I recall correctly, Nasri did well in this sort of role when Fabregas was injured for part of the previous season.
Jack Wilshere has also impressed me in his current avatar at Arsenal. Crisp passer, can skip away from tackles easily and also extremely combative.
Oh, and I’d be really interested to hear your take on why Ferguson has never used a genuine number 10 at United, and whether this is connected to his fondness for playing two traditional wide players in most games.