TOTTENHAM 1-0 MANCHESTER UNITED: Brennan Johnson’s scrambled goal in the first half sees Spurs end their trophy drought and earn a Champions League place while the nightmare gets worse for Ruben Amorim
For the entire duration of a nerve-addled Europa League final, Ruben Amorim barely stood still.
He probably covered more ground than Casemiro. And he did not know whether to have his hands in his pockets or out. In fact, Amorim’s anxiety was a tone-setter for a match that barely featured a confident passage of play from either side.
Amorim always cuts an obsessed figure in and around the technical area but this was different level. And quite frankly, his uncertainty, his change of game-plan – leaving Alejandro Garnacho on the bench – was one of the key factors in this excruciating defeat for Manchester United.
Amorim has been afforded considerable benefit of the doubt since his appointment at Old Trafford but this cannot be dressed as anything other than a failure on his part. Let’s put it this way, if Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s brains trust does not have a thorough inquiry into this loss against a very average Spurs side, it is not doing its job.
Of course, Amorim needs better players – as do Spurs – and this match was glaring evidence of that. As far as the atmosphere inside a wonderful stadium goes, this occasion lived up to the pre-match billing.
As far as the standard of football expected from two teams who have lost a combined THIRTY-NINE Premier League matches this season, this occasion also lived down to its billing. The 40 minutes that preceded a suitably ugly opening goal were not bad, they were spectacularly bad.
Nerves? Perhaps. But as well as being a reflection of their standing in the English game right now, it was a luminous illustration of the challenges that lie ahead for both clubs. In terms of truly elite football, they have fallen off a cliff and scaling their way back towards the top is a seriously arduous task.
It really is hard to describe how poor the first half of this match was. It was a litany of misplaced passes, clumsy fouls, shanked crosses, bad decisions and thoughtless attacking. It was dire. It probably did not help that both managers had been a little conservative in their team selections and set-ups but even so, the failure to be able to do the basics correctly was startling.
And most of us knew how poor these teams were. In United’s case, this was indeed further evidence that the level of squad overhaul needed is extremely high. But one player who will be a big asset going forward is Amad Diallo.
For good portions of this match, he was the only player worth watching, a player with both the attitude and technique that can make things happen. To be fair to Spurs, they were missing a couple of players who have that same mindset but they were still surprisingly afraid to commit men forward.
And that fear was only heightened by Brennan Johnson’s goal. With a nod to Ange Postecoglou’s famous soundbite, it certainly wasn’t who they are, mate. To sit so deep was a risk but, apart from one dramatic Micky van de Ven clearance, they rarely looked in truly serious danger of conceding a goal that would have taken the final into extra-time.
And that is because United were frantic and lacking calmness and composure. They had taken their lead from their manager – and it cost them dear.
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