Tottenham vs. Manchester United: Rating the Spurs Players at White Hart Lane

Tottenham are officially going through their toughest stretch of the season.

At the start of the season, when Tottenham were resoundingly defeated by Manchester City and United, the excuse was that Tottenham were still sorting out their transfers and dealing with the Modric transfer saga. 

Additionally, there was no pressure on the team; the goal was to reach the Champions League, but many Spurs fans quickly tempered their expectations after the team's awful start.

Now Tottenham find themselves in a very different situation; they face a very tough upcoming schedule, and the schedule doesn't really get "easy" until mid-April, when they face Norwich City at home followed by relegation strugglers Bolton, QPR and Blackburn.

Until then, Tottenham will have to fight for every point if they want to avoid being overtaken by Arsenal for third place.

There were a lot of mistakes made in the North London Derby that were unfortunately repeated today against Manchester United. Those mistakes, and more, will be discussed in this week's player ratings.

Goalkeeper

GK: Brad Friedel—5.5

It's certainly tough times for Brad Friedel, who's consistency has not been rewarded recently as he's had to pick the ball out of his net eight times over the last two games.

Friedel actually had a slightly poorer game this time around than against Arsenal, as he probably could've made the first goal harder for Rooney.

Overall though, it's hard to fault him for much; it just wasn't his or Spurs' day.

Defenders

LB: Benoit Assou-Ekotto—6.0

A much improved performance from Tottenham's left back. He kept Nani in his backpocket for most of the game, except for when Phil Jones found Nani unmarked and Nani was able to create the assist for Ashley Young's first goal.

In truth though, BAE had clearly picked up Danny Welbeck on that throw-in, and at least 80 percent of the blame for letting Nani receive the ball unmarked has to fall on Modric.

RB: Kyle Walker—4.0

It seems BAE and Walker decided to switch roles from last week's game. Last week, BAE was Spurs' worst defender and Walker was Spurs' best; this week, Walker was Spurs' worst defender and BAE Spurs' best.

Walker was at fault for not doing more to prevent Wayne Rooney's opening goal, and then he failed to close down Ashley Young well enough on either of his goals. So technically, he could be blamed for all three of United's goals today.

Poor performance by the England international. 

CB: Ledley King—5.5

Another sub-standard game by Ledley King. Not at fault directly for any of the goals conceded, but failed to clean up play as well as he usually does.

With Tottenham having conceded eight goals with their captain in the lineup, is the King effect finally gone? Hopefully King can reorganize and restrengthen Tottenham's defense before all the progress made throughout the season is lost.

CB: Younes Kaboul—5.0

Why Redknapp, why? Didn't Kaboul's weak performance against Arsenal tell us clearly enough that Kaboul was not a defender to play against the best EPL teams?

Assuming Redknapp had a good excuse for why he once again started Kaboul over Michael Dawson, he was once again made to look a fool by the Frenchman.

Kaboul failed to close Ashley Young well enough on his second goal, could've done more on the first, and showed weak decision-making throughout the match.

Midfielders

LM: Luka Modric—5.5

It should come as a surprise to no one that Luka Modric was poor while playing out-of-position in left midfield.

He lacked the pace necessary to beat defenders down the flank, and failed to follow up on the defensive responsibilities of the position as well when he let Nani get behind Tottenham's defense unmarked.

The effort was there, but it was always highly unlikely that Modric would succeed out wide. Another poor tactical decision by Harry Redknapp.

RM: Aaron Lennon—7.0

It was great to see Aaron Lennon back in the starting lineup after so much time out, and he was a firecracker from the very start. His assist on Tottenham's disallowed goal was well-created, and he gave Manchester United trouble throughout the first half.

He was a bit more subdued in the second half unfortunately as the tide turned in United's favor, but he was definitely the team's best midfielder on the day.

CM: Jake Livermore—6.5

It appears his shot has improved considerably, as it was a long shot from Livermore which gave Tottenham one of their best scoring opportunities of the second half. His passing was on point as well, and he was clearly up to the challenge of contesting the center of midfield with some of the biggest names in the business.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, Livermore was not what Tottenham needed in midfield alongside Sandro. They need Modric in the middle, bossing play, while a winger marauded down the left—someone like Giovani Dos Santos or Niko Kranjcar would've been able to do the job.

Good game by Livermore, bad tactics by Redknapp. 

CM: Sandro—6.0

Not as proactive as Livermore, but also did his job and it was his tackle which created a great opportunity for Adebayor early in the first half. Looked understandably demoralized when he was subbed off, as Tottenham went on to lose despite playing better than United.

Strikers

ST: Louis Saha—5.0

Harry Redknapp seems to have gotten carried away with his appraisal of Louis Saha after his double against Newcastle United. 

Louis Saha put in the effort, but this was a game Jermain Defoe should've definitely started ahead of Saha.

Saha was anonymous for most of the game, his one notable moment coming when he shot the ball at Adebayor instead into the net from close range, thus missing a key scoring opportunity for Spurs that could've changed the game.

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor—7.0

Fought hard from start to finish, but ultimately lacked support. His disallowed goal was well-taken, and on another day that goal might have been given as there was little contact between his hand and the body, even though there was, admittedly, some.

Substitutes

RM: Niko Kranjcar—N/A

Came on to replace Sandro, but came on about 79 minutes too late, or at 34 minutes. Couldn't do much in his 11 minutes on the field, though he finally allowed Modric to move into center midfield and provided balance to Tottenham's midfield.

ST: Jermain Defoe—N/A

Replaced Louis Saha, and made it even clearer to Redknapp how bad his choice was in selecting Saha over him by scoring in the 87th minute. I will never understand why this guy gets such limited playing time.

Yes, he's a good substitute, but he's an even better starter, and Tottenham surely don't have the luxury to assign him the role of "permanent super-sub" when there's numerous clubs (remember the Liverpool rumors?) ready to pounce for him in the summer, and we're choosing between Defoe and Saha.

Danny Rose—N/A

He replaced Aaron Lennon in the 84th minute, but he was only the field for such little time that I'm not sure what exactly his role was, since he normally plays as a left wing-back but couldn't do that today since Benoit Assou-Ekotto was still on the field.

Either way, it didn't matter much, just a move by Redknapp to get the young Englishman some playing time.