Louis van Gaal’s United were landed a sucker punch by Tottenham Hotspurs in their ambition for a top 4 finish, as they lost 3-0 at White Hart Lane. The game was delayed by 30 minutes after United got stuck in traffic on their way to White Hart Lane. Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, and Erik Lamela scored in six second-half minutes to fire Spurs to victory.
Earlier in the day, Leicester City won their game and stretched their lead at the top of the table to 10 points and Spurs kept their slim title hopes alive with this critical win, which also ended United’s 15-year unbeaten run at White Hart Lane. Here are 3 things we learned from the game:
1. Louis van Gaal’s tactics are baffling
After taking off Marcus Rashfordathalf-time, United had winger AshleyYoung playing up front, striker Anthony Martial playing wide left, No.10 Juan Mata playing wide and winger Jesse Lingard playing behind the striker. Now if it had worked , the Dutchman would have been hailed as a visionary, but it hasn’t worked, infact, it has failed miserably. It made absolutely no sense , just as it didn’t make sense for him to continually use Fellaini in midfield, Depay in attack or Rojo as a fullback. Either the former Barca man is too full of himself to even consider an outsider’s opinions, or he is building some new, revolutionary football tactic. It seems likely that the first case is the most probable one, though.
2. Fosu Mensah impresses once again
The 18-year-old was picked at right back over Darmian, and Valencia, and he justified the decision as he slid in with a couple of heroic last-ditch slide tackles to deny Harry Kane and Kyle Walker when they looked certain to score. His peripheral vision and game reading ability are already top notch, and that came to the forefront when he left the field in the 70th minute and the Red Devils let in 3 quick goals just after that. He still has a long way to go though, especially with his overlapping and passing yet to really catch the eye.
3. Bye Bye Champions League
With Leicester guaranteed a Champions League spot now, the fight gets tougher for United as the season approaches it’s business end. The original target for van Gaal would have been to challenge for the title this year, but under such circumstances, he would be very lucky if United could hold on to the 4th and final CL spot this season.