Manchester United Might Be Bigger Than Tottenham Hotspur but They Are Not Better

Speaking after he oversaw an embarrassing 3-0 defeat for his club at White Hart Lane, Louis van Gaal said, per BBC Sport, "I'm sorry for Tottenham, but Manchester United is a bigger club."

When he was subsequently asked whether he regretted taking the reins at United rather than Spurs, he replied, "It is a little bit pathetic you asked that. It's easy to ask that but, OK, you enjoy yourself."

In truth, Daniel Levy and Tottenham's supporters must be counting themselves extremely lucky that they missed out on Van Gaal's services. Mauricio Pochettino has done a remarkable job of galvanising a talented squad.

The deadwood among the players brought in following the departure of Gareth Bale has been cleared out, and those who remain have made a meaningful contribution. Homegrown youngsters have been supplemented with young talent from outside the club.

Against United, they gave a pretty impressive account of themselves as legitimate title contenders. The did not buckle following the disappointment of Leicester's earlier 2-0 win over Sunderland.

And the future looks bright, too. They have a young squad—reserve goalkeeper Michel Vorm is the only player over 30 who has played in the league this season. Two of those in particular—Harry Kane and Dele Alli—look like they could become genuine world-beaters. On top of all this, plans are afoot for a new stadium.

And yet for Van Gaal, per BBC Sport again, "the challenge was bigger for me at Manchester United and shall always be bigger." How bringing success to a club with the infrastructure and operating budget of United's is a bigger challenge than managing Spurs is unclear.

Of course there are issues of expectation, but financially powerful clubs are succeeding all over Europe. Van Gaal's personal performance during Sunday's loss speaks to just why United are doing so poorly.

There were a series of questionable decisions made in the starting lineup. Chief among them was playing Juan Mata on the right flank in spite of the huge mismatch it created between him and Danny Rose. Also suspect was the decision to start Marcos Rojo at left-back after his dismal performance against Everton.

Finally, it was unclear whether it was wise to start an out-of-sorts Michael Carrick in midfield against a pressing side with serious physical presence.

Then came the substitutions, the worst of which was Van Gaal's decision to play Ashley Young at centre-forward. Once he had done so, seven of the 10 outfield players were arguably playing somewhere other than their best—or, at least, most natural—position.

Daley Blind at centre-back, Rojo at left-back, Timothy Fosu-Mensah at right-back—all have experience with those roles. However, Blind has played extensively at left-back, left wing-back and defensive midfield. Rojo has spent much of his career as a central defender. Fosu-Mensah has played a good deal at left-back and centre-back for the academy.

In attack, Mata, a natural No. 10, was on the right. Jesse Lingard, historically a wide forward at first-team level, was at No. 10. Anthony Martial, a player with the potential to be a superstar centre-forward, was on the left.

And Young was playing at No. 9.

When asked about why he had been deployed there, Van Gaal told Sky Sports (h/t Manchester Evening News): "I wanted more running in behind because in the first half we didn't have an attacking point."

It was a calamitous failure of an experiment. Young offered nothing of any value in that role. To be fair to the player, who other than a floundering Van Gaal would really have expected him to?

The size of the challenge may be a factor, but the manager's approach to it is much more of a problem.

So for now, of course United are a "bigger" club than Spurs. But at the moment, they are a worse-run club with a much less clear positive trajectory and, frankly, a much less suitable manager. If they do not get the big decisions right over the next few years, the gap in global appeal between the two sides may narrow considerably.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

The first of those decisions must surely be to replace the manager. Van Gaal's time at Old Trafford, in stark contrast to Pochettino's at Spurs, has been a near-abject failure.