Tottenham Showed They Are on the Right Track in 1-1 Man Utd Draw

You feel like this is a piece that could be written a fair few times as long as Jose Mourinho remains in N17 for the foreseeable future.

In fact, here's one we prepared earlier; attempting to defend the 'Special One' from the onslaught he faced following Spurs' 1-0 defeat to the then-unbeaten Liverpool back in January.

On that occasion it was the mainstream media who attacked Mourinho's alleged return to 'dinosaur football', but this time around the disappointment following Friday night's 1-1 draw against Manchester United appeared more internal.

Many Lilywhites weren't exactly thrilled at what they saw at an empty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday night but overall, there's plenty of reason for optimism going forward.

The clash seemed to be all about United; was Paul Pogba going to start? How would the Bruno x Pogba partnership flourish? It was all about them, and there was a sense of the Red Devils merely needing to turn up to claim a comfortable victory in north London - emphasised by Roy Keane pre-match, who was describing Spurs like it was the same 'lads, it's Tottenham' side from the early 2000s.

This was never going to be the same Tottenham side we had seen before the unprecedented halt. Many appeared ignorant to the fact that they can actually function following the return of Harry Kane and co, while the talent within the squad was comically overlooked.

But ultimately, the north Londoners teased their potential in the United draw.

Set up in a mightily compact 4-4-2, Spurs thwarted Bruno Ferna-, sorry, United for much of the contest and were especially good out of possession between Steven Bergwijn's 27th-minute opener and Pogba's 63rd-minute introduction; deterring their threat from central areas via a combination of man and zonal marking, wide midfielders Bergwijn and Son Heung-min worked tirelessly to prevent the Red Devils from overloading the flanks, while the backline that had Spurs fans tearing up when the teams were announced were well-drilled throughout - bar a couple of chaotic sequences.

In possession, meanwhile, there was a clear emphasis on transition and unlike previous displays where Mourinho's men appeared directionless going forward, with punts up to Lucas Moura remarkably not doing the trick, Spurs always looked a threat on the break, as they combined superbly at times to work the ball out to the isolated Serge Aurier on the right.

Erik Lamela's knack of constantly finding pockets of space between United's pivot allowed Spurs to play vertically throughout, as Solskjaer's side made life tough in the first phase for Ben Davies and co.

It wasn't until Pogba entered the fray when the dynamic of the contest changed.

After an hour of United's attackers almost confusing themselves with the sheer number of rotations they were carrying out, the Frenchman's introduction saw United's performance improve exponentially from a positional perspective, while the ridiculous confidence he oozes with the ball at his feet was a certain boost for the rest of the United players.

And eventually, it was the magic of Pogba - and the clumsiness of Eric Dier - which earned United a hard-fought point, with partner in crime Bruno scoring from the spot after the Frenchman had bemused Spurs' centre half with some dazzling footwork to work his way into the Tottenham area.

After an 80-minute chess match, what followed United's 81st-minute equaliser was a thrilling end-to-end contest in which either side could've plucked out a late winner. If there was anything to take away from Friday night's encounter, it's that the Premier League is well and truly back.

Nevertheless, this piece shouldn't be a complete Jose Mourinho love-in. He wasn't perfect by any means last night.

His decision to keep both Kane and Son on for the entirety of the contest was certainly questionable. The pair had nothing left to give following the second 'cooling break', while they also lost their main transitional threat in Bergwijn, who was taken off with 20 minutes remaining. Thus, as Spurs struggled to counter efficiently, United were able to sustain attacks at a canter and an equaliser almost felt inevitable against a persistently deepening Spurs defensive line.

It was the sort of contest that was crying out for a bit of Lucas Moura, but the Brazilian was ruled out after picking up a knock in training.

More subs should've been made, no question. While it was understandable Tanguy Ndombele didn't start and enter proceedings up until United's equaliser, the Frenchman could have had a ten-minute cameo as the game became more stretched in the dying embers. But no.

But still, Friday night's draw shouldn't be one where the Lilywhite faithful dwindle on the negatives. There are plenty of positives to take out of it.

Sure, it'd be great to have the defensive line at the halfway line, counter-press the opposition into oblivion and play the champagne football Spurs fans are so obsessed with, but from a defensive perspective, does Mourinho currently have the options to play differently to what we saw last night against a mightily dangerous United side? Not really.

Let's face it, the Portuguese boss got the very best out of his defence against the Red Devils. It's been a while since we've seen a Tottenham side look so organised and defend with so much discipline - for the most part - with the impulsive Aurier at right back.

What we saw against United was the frightening potential Mourinho's side has, and further emphasises the fact that they're only a couple of dabbles in the transfer market and a healthy Ndombele away from being something quite brilliant.

Mourinho has found a system which can be used to devastating effect against the 'big' sides, much like Solskjaer and his 5-3-2. With a front four of Son, Kane, Bergwijn and Dele Alli, Mourinho's blessed with an incredibly talented quartet akin to Mauricio Pochettino's imperious 'DESK', while the significant structural improvements on display was mightily refreshing to see.

The challenge for Mourinho now is how he'll go about the games in which Spurs will be expected to be the protagonist, with the Lilywhites' upcoming encounter at home to West Ham the perfect test on Tuesday night.

However, we saw in the early days of Mourinho's reign just how potent Spurs can be against inferior opposition with a fully-fit squad including the oh so imperative Dele.

Source : 90min