Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Five things we learned

Manchester United badly in need of a creative spark

Even with the return of both Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, United still look as though they don’t have the creativity to prise open defenses, like they used to. Against Spurs, for all their possession and the corners, they didn’t create enough chances and that is something they will have to somehow address very soon.

Traditionally, United’s long lineage of wing wizards did the job for them.But, at least on the evidence of the first half of the season, the wingers at present are either injured or ineffective. With no creativity from the wings and Kagawa still out of sorts, United lack a creative spark, someone who can beat his man in the blink of an eye or thread the eye of the needle with his passing.Lloris got out of jail this time

There are times when Tottenham, as a result of the high-line, are caught out by long balls, but Lloris has time and again proved that he is quick off the line and ready to deal with any threat. Unfortunately for Spurs, the Frenchman is a little too keen to come off his line and that might yet prove to be his undoing. The tone was set in the first minute, when he almost came out of his box to punch clear and was lucky to still to be on the pitch as the linesman couldn’t keep up with the play.

Time and again, Lloris came out, when there was absolutely no need to and put his side in jeopardy and should have been sent off for a second time for his tackle on Young, but got lucky again. He might not be as lucky next time, so he must learn to curb his instincts to play as a sweeper and start playing as a keeper.Webb under the scanner yet again

After a tumultuous game at Stamford Bridge just a couple of days ago, if Howard Webb was looking for a nice easy game at Old Trafford, then this wasn’t it. There were plenty of tough calls the referee had to make, the least of which was a penalty that should have been awarded to Ashley Young, towards the end of the game. A long ball saw Young racing for the ball, when he was clipped in mid-air by Lloris and the Frenchman should have been punished for a high boot with a red card.

Instead, Young, like Januzaj and Welbeck before him, saw his reputation precede him. To be fair to Webb, he got most of the decisions right, but that call at the end, that saw him extend his record of no penalties and no red cards given so far this season, might just make for plenty of column inches in the coming days.Januzaj: The sole bright spark

For much of the first half, Danny Rose had a torrid time with Valencia, but the Ecuadorian was unable to find the killer ball at the end and the Englishman was let off the hook on more than one occasion. But when Moyes brought on Kagawa, Januzaj switched onto the right wing and the game suddenly changed on its head. Out of nowhere, Rose had a different player to contend with, one who wanted to go inside him and was more than capable to whipping in a delicious ball.

And it was no surprise that it was the Belgian who set up Welbeck for United’s goal and sent in a few more delicious crosses towards the end. He was the sole silver lining in attack for United, in another abject performance that showed just how lacking in creativity the current crop are.Moyes’s men lack big-game pedigree

Eriksen’s second half goal meant that for the first time in the history of the Premier League, the reigning champions lost on New Year’s Day. Not since Liverpool in 1989 had the reigning champions lost on January 1, but Moyes’s men go into the record books for all the wrong reasons. And to be fair to Moyes, injuries to several key personnel forced his hand, and on another day his substitutions would have worked in his favour, but that wasn’t to be.

Instead, his performances against the big teams, is called into question again. Against the current top six, United have only beaten Arsenal at home, and have already lost to Liverpool, Manchester City, Everton and now Spurs, with only Chelsea managing a draw. That doesn’t make for very good reading for Moyes.