Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United: Tactical Analysis

Nothing down the left for United

Manchester United’s lack of attacking threat down the left. Via squawka.com

Regular watchers of Manchester United would be accustomed to the sight of one of the deep lying midfielders passing the ball out to Evra on the left wing. Faced with packed defences more often than not, it’s United’s outlet ball so to speak. The Frenchman’s form may have dipped over the years but his willingness to bomb forward hasn’t waned. However, yesterday proved to be one of the rare games in which he contained himself. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that Lennon troubled him right from the beginning of the game (as he has done on previous occasions when the 2 sides have faced each other).

Kagawa hardly stayed out wide. Via squawka.com

United started with Danny Welbeck on the left flank before he moved in field and Japanese International Kagawa shifted out wide. Neither of them are natural wingers. With Kagawa preferring to cut in-field and Evra not going forward in his customary fashion, United’s heat map has a distorted look with the left hand side surprisingly bare.

Chiriches covering Vertonghen

Tottenham have always been known for their attacking wing-backs, and this game was no different. With United’s main attacking threat coming from the right wing, Vertonghen didn’t have the best of games defensively. He needed cover and the Romanian centre back provided just that. On multiple occasions when Valencia found space and bypassed Vertonghen, Chiriches was on hand to cover for his defensive partner.

Chiriches covered for Vertonghen on multiple occasions. Via squawka.com

The heat map shown above is telling and reinforces the point. From a Manchester United point of view , the main avenue of attack was down the right and they’ll be disappointed that Valencia couldn’t capitalize but more on that later. This covering provided by Chiriches allowed Verthongen the liberty to venture forward, as the Belgian was assured of back-up.

On the other side, Walker had a more difficult task. The Englishman regularly attacked but was also required to fall-back and support the defence. The cover provided by Chiriches to Verthongen wasn’t provided by Dawson for Walker. It didn’t prove to be too difficult to handle as United failed to take advantage of this on the left hand side.

Valencia ineffective down the right despite being offered space

With United’s attack concentrated on the right hand side, it was a good chance for Antonio Valencia to have a telling effect on the game. We’ve already enumerated on how Chiriches did well to provide cover for Vertonghen but that’s no excuse for Valencia. In fact going past the fullback and then having a run at the centre back who’s been pulled out of position is pretty much the ideal situation for a winger. There’s space in the box for the forwards to make their runs and the attacking unit have to make such situations count. Unfortunately, the Ecuadorian’s radar was well off on the day as shown below.

Only 1 out of Valencia’s 11 crosses were successful. Via squawka.com

The United winger would have been helped if Rafael was fit enough to start the game but at the end of the day there’s no hiding from the fact that his final delivery was poor. In a game where there was space on offer for him to run into, he could and should have been United’s main man.

Conclusion

3 much needed points were on offer but neither side did enough to snatch the victory. As the home side, Spurs would’ve been the more aggrieved with the result especially considering the manner of the goals conceded, both of which were avoidable. For Manchester United, a point away at White Hart Lane in isolation is no means a bad result but 2 consecutive draws after a lukewarm start mean that the gap between them and the leaders Arsenal is slowly but surely widening.