Same manager, similar players, same result. The familiar pattern played out again. Tottenham had a lead and Tottenham lost the lead and the result is that the gap to the top four is now six points.
It was the reverse round of matches in October – Leeds, who beat Manchester City, West Ham, and Leicester, Aston Villa, who beat Liverpool – who created the feeling that it was not going to be a normal season, and Tottenham ‘s 6-1 win at Old Trafford even raised the honestly unlikely thought that Spurs could possibly clinch a title challenge. How long ago it does not seem now. All that remains to be decided, it seems, is the circumstances of José Mourinho’s departure, when it happens and how big his payout is.
It is striking how the mood around Old Trafford now differs from how it was in Mourinho’s last season, mainly due to the personality of the managers. Like a poisonous Charlie Brown, Mourinho carries his personal cloud with him. At this stage of his reign, it seems that his focus has always shifted from achieving results to the assurance that no one is blaming him for the results. In contrast, Solskjær’s name literally means sunshine. Whatever can be said about him as a manager, he lifts gloom.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that he has become a better man-manager than Mourinho, something that is evident from the way he is constantly rehabilitating Paul Pogba after another announcement from his agent that he wants to leave. Mourinho’s approaching low block may seem outdated, but at least as responsible for his decline it was as he seems these days to struggle to keep up with players. The shamanic figure in his early years was so attuned to every detail and every nuance that it seemed as if he could tell the future, and in its place arose an insane head teacher who was always on the lookout for some heresy. which he can blame. school failures.
Yet Solskjær’s record this season is slightly worse than that of Mourinho in 2017-’18: 2.03 points per game to Mourinho’s 2.13, 1.97 goals per game to Mourinho’s 1.79, 1.10 goals per game conceded to Mourinho’s 0.74. There is enough green recovery to have some sense, it is a team that is starting to improve, but before today the win against Manchester City was the only win against a top six team, and many of the wins on fewer teams has unconvincingly scurried through the strange goal. The difference between this season and three years ago is the sense that more progress can be made, and the willingness to give the driver more time.
There was a danger that with two parties so committed to playing at half-time, it would end up as the deadlock between United and Chelsea earlier in the season, when both parties were so intent on letting the opposition to them come and not take risks. that the ball could just as well have been left in the center at the kick-off, as both sides sat in their own half and watched. But this has never been the case: if the opening of half an hour was a blow, it was mainly because neither side was good enough to evade the tactical fouling of the other.
But the match was shaken after 33 minutes in a seemingly reluctant life as Edinson Cavani United seemed to give United the lead, only for referee Chris Kavanagh to decide after consulting the video screen that Scott McTominay’s brush fingers. in Son Heung-min’s face when he walked away from him in the build-up, it’s an offense. Mourinho comforted Solskjær in a patronizing way, a reminder of the virtuosity of old; other gifts may leave him, but Mourinho remains a master.
And then, the most unexpected event – not just a Spurs goal, but also a bright light. Maybe Victor Lindelöf helped get his feet in a mess, but after Serge Aurier swept the ball forward, the interaction between Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son, who was left to roll the ball, was smooth and penetrating. . But it was also completely out of step with the toil in dead-end streets of the rest of the game.
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What was more predictable was what came next. For Spurs, taking the lead is like a character in Treasure Island overtaking the Black Spot. Their downfall becomes inevitable. The pattern set out against West Ham, Lask, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Wolves, Fulham, Arsenal, Dinamo Zagreb and Newcastle was followed again.
As Spurs sat deeper, United began to play with fluency and imagination. After a few decent blocks from Hugo Lloris, the equalizer came 12 minutes into the second half, and Fred knocked in the setback after Cavani’s effort was saved. Cavani, consistently excellent, took second place with a dive from Mason Greenwood’s cross. He then tipped against his own post when Pogba swung on a Spurs corner, but the game did not have to change his fate and Greenwood added a late third.
And so the Mourinho doomsday spiral took another turn closer to the conclusion everyone suspects.