Article by Sana Jeewa
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Optimism, positivity, fight, tenacity- all words which have been closely associated with Spurs recently and with good reason. As a team, we seem to be developing greatly over this 2014/15 season, but our match at Old Trafford displayed why we are not the finished article- yet.
It promised to be so much- a game wherein two top 4 challengers battled hard to gain crucial momentum during the business end of the season. Watching it amongst my family of Man United supporters , it also came with the added potential of bragging rights (which I had proudly held since September 2012). With 10 games to go and Spurs a mere three points behind Man United - a win would have taken us level and we would have been well placed for the vastly intriguing Champions League spot race.
Going behind after 9 minutes is exactly the kind of start you desperately hope to avoid. With our defence being cut open, Fellaini expertly guided his finish into the far end of Lloris' goal. 1-0, in an away game, a familiar scenario for us Spurs fans, and it was only the most cynical of us who felt that it was game over. Unfortunately, though, that was to come 10 minutes later when Carrick took advantage of more horrendous defending to score from a corner. 2-0 down, only 19 minutes in, this felt more like the Spurs of old and nothing like our valiant heroes who had been emerging gradually throughout this entertaining season.
Clearly sensing that something was amiss, Pochettino decided to implement a change with the introduction of the strong, ball holding Dembele for Townsend. Unfortunately, he couldn't have predicted that we would be the architects of our own downfall soon after this. A diabolic pass from Bentaleb was simple for Rooney to pounce on. Credit to him though, there was still a line of defence to get through, a defence that failed in its elementary task of stopping the striker bearing down on goal. He shot with ease, the ball landed brilliantly in the back of the net and it was 3-0 after just 34 minutes....Spurs in shambles with almost an hour of the match remaining.
It was telling that throughout the 2nd half, United were content in letting us have possession, possession that it looked like we would never capitalize on. Our attack was blunt and our ever-potent striker, Harry Kane only managed to register a shot on target in the 89th minute. Inexplicably, the persistent effort we had seen so regularly recently was absent. Overall, a disappointing evening but that shouldn't detract from the fact that our young team still has a lot to learn and Pochettino remains the perfect person to guide them. His noticeable dejection at this abject loss and realistic acknowledgement that "our performance was poor and we need to analyse why" and that "we need to fix the problems" proves to us that he will try his utmost best to rectify our issues.
Yes, it is easy to single out individuals who were culpable in the build up to Man United's goals but our team as a whole did not perform to out recently stellar standards. The word "we" as used by Pochettino in his post match interview is key, the team in its entirety played at an extremely poor level (bar some great defensive effort from Rose) , not reflecting the kind of showing we are capable of. Man United were simply superior to us and there is clearly a lot of work to do before we are able to fully emerge into the top 4. Victories against Arsenal and Chelsea showcased our improvements but such a painful defeat highlights the naivety and flaws that are evident in a budding, developing team.
All is not lost, however, and I firmly believe that we still have the potential to ultimately break through our current glass ceiling and into the promised land of Champions League football...all we need to do is keep the faith in our young manager and players (and crucially, keep our stars). It is worth remembering that we are only at the start of a project, a project that will certainly reap brilliant dividends in the promising future!
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The whole team including Lloris for the first goal underperformed and seemed overwhelmed by the size of the task. We haven't been convincing since the Arsenal game and almost messed up against QPR and Swansea so I wasn't totally surprised Utd beat us but was surprised how easy it was for them to do so. I've always thought we were a 5th or 6th placed team this year but the thought of another season of europa League is very depressing. Only hope for us is that all top six teams have a lot of games against each other including us with a home game against Man city and away to southampton. Give it your best lads.
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