Loss to Manchester United Leaves Tottenham Hotspur with Plenty to Improve On

Tottenham Hotspur headed to Old Trafford on Sunday hoping for a third straight win to begin December.

Victory over another Premier League top-four hopeful in Manchester United would have served as a nice confirmation their recent performances were not just simple cases of them expressing superiority over confidence-lacking Swansea City and CSKA Moscow sides.

The 1-0 loss Mauricio Pochettino's team instead suffered to Jose Mourinho's Red Devils was no disgrace. But it was one that also left them with things to work on if they are to come close to fulfilling their potential this year.

"We need to feel every game in the Premier League—every time we play—is a big game for us," Pochettino told Tottenham's official website beforehand.

With that in mind, their next matches—home fixtures versus Hull City and Burnley—are vital in Spurs swiftly getting back on track, in terms of both winning points and finding the form that can guide them confidently into the second half of the season.

Attacking Midfield Predictability

Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld's assessment to Spurs TV that they "lost in the minor details" to Manchester United is correct to an extent.

Had Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen been slightly more in-sync in their intentions and positioning in at the halfway line, Henrikh Mkhitaryan would not have had the opportunity to get on Ander Herrera's through ball behind the trusting defence and open the scoring. Later on, an unmarked Victor Wanyama timing his run to meet a free-kick slightly better may well have made it 1-1.

On the other hand, Paul Pogba was just inches away from extending Man United's lead with a delightful curling free-kick later in the second half.

Tottenham did not perform proactively enough going forward to really deserve more than what they got. After their patient ripping-apart of Swansea and purposeful and effective stretching of CSKA Moscow, this was a comparatively listless effort. (Their engagement of Chelsea had also impressed despite losing.)

Those performances—two of Spurs' best since the early season—mixed sharp central passing and movement with well-judged use of the wide areas. Here all three of Dele Alli, Eriksen and Heung-Min Son were often too ponderous or content to pass backwards, easy pickings for the hungrier Man United defence and midfield.

Substitute Moussa Sissoko made some difference with his more determined running out right. But with others less eager to provoke and test United off the ball, there was little for him to aim for with his crosses.

It was a reminder Tottenham's attack cannot afford to rest on its laurels if it is to challenge the Premier League's best. It needs to be striving to play its best football every week.

Kane Isolation

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Part of Tottenham's attacking problem against Manchester United was how isolated their centre-forward Kane quickly became.

Shackled by Marcos Rojo and others in the final third, he quickly dropped deep in search of the ball. In Spurs' two previous games, he was granted space enough to at least get his head up and consider his options. But this time, United's defenders followed him, allowing him time only to make tidy but unremarkable lay-offs.

The team's inability to win the ball in the opposition half was reminiscent of the period before last season's frequent, superb pressing demonstrations. Back then, a more timid Tottenham were, especially away from home against stronger sides, hoping for a loose ball Kane or someone may be able to create something from. Less the aggressors, more the gamblers waiting on a bit of luck.

Pochettino's challenge right now is setting up his side so they can make situations that involve and utilise Kane, be it in creating directly for him or using him to occupy defenders for others.

Spurs' varying success with changing formations prior to the recent restoration of the 4-2-3-1 showed mixing it up does not always work. But even in that specific system, there are tweaks that could open things.

For instance, Son is better trying to make inroads from a more advanced position than he is deep. (That transition area is somewhere the absent Erik Lamela has been missed.) There, his acceleration and prompt shooting is more likely to catch defences already distracted by Kane's presence—see his late impact in last month's 3-2 win over West Ham United.

It would also be interesting to see how Sissoko's battering-ram qualities work in conjunction with Kane from a central position. In games where the more intricate Alli has less room to operate in, the Frenchman's power-running style may better help Spurs break through tough resistances.

Finding Intensity

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In comparison to Tottenham's attack, their defence was more prepared for the challenge at hand. Though they were caught out by the goal and almost so in some other instances—Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both forced Hugo Lloris into good saves—this was less to do with their own work as it was failings in shape and ball control ahead.

One of the strengths of the protective efforts of their defence is its all-round energy. It is not infallible (set-pieces have been a problem area this season), but it is not often opponents are not met with controlled aggression, hounding and hassling them before they can create or strike.

Even without Alderweireld, this was still largely seen during the team's winless run up until late November. Finding a way to produce this intensity throughout the team again will be key to Tottenham pushing on.

As already noted, Spurs did not close down Manchester United to their high standards and lacked gusto creatively. But behind that, midfielders Mousa Dembele and Wanyama only intermittently looked to drive the team on, while their insistence on passing around the back and Lloris' short kicks out further allowed the hosts too much time to regroup.

Getting at a team possessing the Red Devils' talent is easier said than done, especially at Old Trafford. Patient play can also be in the team's best interest in figuring out and exposing an opponent, as they did the previous seven days.

Spurs needed more confidence, arrogance even, in their ability to really trouble United. What Pochettino does (if he can) to get Spurs back into a more high-octane rhythm against Hull and beyond should make for a fascinating watch.

Mentality

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It was not quite last May's violent denouement to the 2-2 draw with Chelsea, but as the game got away from Tottenham, late on especially (the withdrawn Dembele's presence was missed), they did lose their heads a little.

There was nothing dramatically wrong with their three yellow cards (Rose, Walker and Wanyama) and 17 fouls, per BBC Sport. Manchester United received the same amount of bookings and committed two fouls.

But in the context of the game it spoke of Spurs getting a tad desperate and losing discipline in position and mind.

They were only one-nil down and, while not offering the quality of United's work, their majority of possession indicated there was scope for them to get back into the match. Instead, their frustration took hold and they let the home side wrap things up comfortably.

Maybe games like these are what this Tottenham team needs to go through to get better. Lessons acting as reminders that last season's title-challenging form will not come again so easy, that they have to improve to keep pace with resurgent foes, let alone get ahead of them.

There will come a point soon when, collectively and individually, they will have to take responsibility for reaching a higher level of performance and behaviour. Again, this is not easy stuff. But it is what the teams operating at the peak of the game, where Spurs want to be, do on a regular basis.

With plenty of fixtures ahead over the Christmas period, they have ample opportunity to try.

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