Manchester United looked laboured and well beaten in the face of Spur’s desire and determination to play on the front foot
Erik ten Hag has had one bad Premier League season start already although 2023-24 was intended to be a new dawn for Manchester United rather than many of the same faces – and some of the new ones – serving up a familiar August mediocrity.
This was a bad afternoon for United in London, all the more so for the fact that they were up against a Tottenham team just days into its new era. Harry Kane has departed and while the influence he wielded in this team will be missed for many years to come, this was a very good first draft from Ange Postecoglou when it came to the future. His was a young, bold attacking team that may yet have some way to go, but they seemed to relish the risk.
They got two second half goals, the first of which was scored by the Senegal midfielder Pape Matar Sarr, acquired two years earlier, loaned, brought back and now at last it seems part of a plan under Postecoglou. This was not a game that Spurs dominated, by any means, but when it came to its decisive stages it was Postecoglou’s players who seized the initiative and took their chances.
It was a dismal afternoon for Ten Hag’s big hitters. Marcus Rashford substituted and frustrated. An own goal from Lisandro Martinez. A worrying afternoon for Casemiro, somewhat lost in the midfield hustle of Spurs’ combination of Sarr, Yves Bissouma and James Maddison. Mason Mount was a peripheral figure and later substituted. Ten Hag has proven before that he can turn around these setbacks but once again it feels like his back is against a wall.