Manchester United were easily overpowered by Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley and lost 2-0 and contributing writer, Nathan Quao, of Citi Sports, Accra, Ghana, notes down the main topics from the match.

The horrible start strikes again

For a team that is looking to find its way back to the top of the tree, its attention span at the start of matches is very strange. Often this season, Man United has taken time to warm itself into matches and while, most of the time, the victory has been attained, the odd losses have occurred and they have been seismic.

Tonight at Wembley, the poor start came back and the punishment was quick and painful. Spurs did not play about and went for the kill.

It is quite strange that Man United did not imagine such a start from their opponents. Clearly, scouting was done and so, what happened? Was it poor player focus or they were just surprised?

Whatever it is, Man United players and the team in general must understand they are a big ticket item and teams will be pumped to play against them.

Such horrible starts cannot be tolerated going forward.

Complete team malfunction

It was a very bad night all round and all involved must watch the tape again to see their poor output. Phil Jones was very poor in his duties and he very culpable for the goals Spurs scored. Chris Smalling was his partner in crime for the first one.

He looked a total mess and the own goal just capped his evening. He took the wrong decisions at every turn.

But he was not alone. Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku all scored zero. Alexis Sanchez tried to show something but he could not get the ship going. Passes were misplaced and nothing worked.

It was a very horrible night for the Red Devils and no one should escape blame.

It was chastening evening and the lesson must be learned very quickly because Man City are now 15 points clear.

Regroup for Huddesfield

The next thing is for the team to prepare for Saturday against Huddersfield. Even though, the team should move on, they must be reminded of what a poor start can do.

They must see what poor coordination and a horrible attitude will bring against any team; be it top or bottom.

They must be ready to fight from the first to last minute.

A massive change in terms of personnel may not be needed but the manager needs to look at the group again and decide what is best.

The reaction which was absent against Tottenham should be there against Huddersfield.

 




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