How and where: van Gaal’s philosophy lost United the game

A half an hour delay clearly didn’t make much of a difference as both teams came out extremely cautious, well-shaped and well-organized but not with much gung-ho. Both teams and managers appeared to know their strenghts and weaknesses as they circled around in the ring. Manchester United started strongly, playing almost the entire first 20 odd minutes in the Tottenham half, but only around the box. United’s two shots in the first 10 minutes, which were eventually their only two shots in the first half, came from outside the box. While United looked on the frontfoot in the first 20 minutes, Spurs never looked threatened. And possibly that is what resulted in the shift in momentum. With United looking out of ideas even when dominating the ball, Spurs decided to win the ball a little higher, instead of falling further back and thus launch attacks. It all fell in place when an Eriksen floater from the right found Erik Lamela free on the left but the Argentine headed wide. But that, and a Harry Kane blocked shot aside, the first half was an extremely cagey affair. Neither goalkeeper was called into action and the half was a pretty dull affair. Largely due to the fact that Louis van Gaal’s approach in games of this magnitude is simple- Expect the opponent to make an error or just shut up shop and pray. While neither worked on the night, he did something even stranger.

2. The Ashley Young philosophy

After four futile shooting attempts in the first half, Pochettino sent out his men with a more direct approach and more direct shooting. The desire and a bit of desperation was starting to show with Tottenham pulling the trigger from random angles. Eriksen and Rose were the leaders of the wayward-shooting pack from outside the box. 6 of the 12 shots taken in the second half by the North London side came from 18 yards or further out. The frivolous shooting started to distort the near-perfect defensive shape Man United had maintained all game, and gaps started to appear in their armoury. A Danny Rose low-drilled cross took a deflection off Mata and needed to be saved by De Gea.