MUST DO BETTER

Jose and Ole have heaps to put right

IT is too early in the second coming of this season to write teams off, but it was evident again in north London last night just why these two teams are playing for fourth place rather than first these days.

Tottenham and Manchester United have slipped too far to make up ground quickly. if either make it into the Champions League places this term, it will be as much due to the frailties of others as any deep-rooted quality of their own.

Both teams are growing under new coaches. But whether Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar solskjaer are the right fits for their clubs in the long term remains a subject for the kind of considered debate that seemed beyond the remarkable — and not in a good way — Roy Keane at half-time in the sky sports studio.

Keane’s mid- game fireworks were as spectacular as they were pointless. Players make mistakes — heaven knows, he did — and do not deserve the kind of Hackney Marshes abuse delivered by the former United captain.

Nevertheless, both these teams do have work to do to beat the likes of Chelsea, sheffield United and Wolves to the serious European places.

At the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Bruno Fernandes was the best United player but he needs more quality around him. For Mourinho’s team, Erik Lamela was dogged and goalscorer steven Bergwijn swift as they played on the counter.

Mourinho had prefaced the game by suggesting that this was Tottenham’s second chance to find something progressive this season. That sentiment was easy enough to understand, given that his team were on such a miserable run before the pause in play back in March.

The spurs manager also promised his team would ‘go for it’. That was harder to believe.

The longer Mourinho’s career goes on, the more risk-averse the Portuguese appears to become. The United team he was in charge of before his sacking in December 2018 was increasingly comfortable without the ball and there have been signs of that at spurs, too.

in north London, however, they are fully aware of how times have changed since the departure of Mauricio Pochettino. if Mourinho is to achieveeve anything at all at his third Premier League club, he will do it his way.

Here his team selection was certainly novel. Nobody was expecting both Belgium defenders, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, to start. Maybe those days have gone. still, it was a surprise to see neither in the line-up.

For a while, spurs were a little supine, a little reactive. They felt their way into the game early on. This is very much their way these days, too. Had United been more sure of themselves in the opening 20 minutes or so, they could have been in the lead.

Marcus Rashford’s first-time volley after an error by Davinson sanchez was too close to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

in truth, Rashford should have scored and if the 22- year- old United forward is to reach the heights once predicted for him, this is the part of the game he must improve.

For the period until Tottenham took the lead, the game was too slow. On TV commentary, Gary Neville made the point that each of the matches played since the restart has suffered this way.

several Premier League bosses suggested in the days leading into these fixtures that there may be a pre-season feel and it has certainly been that way.

With no supporters in the stadiums, players are being asked to find their own tempo and urgency and it is clear teams who can do this during this early rounds may find themselves making progress up the table.

Here, the game was woken up by David de Gea, the United goalkeeper. The comments of former United captain Roy Keane at halftime were ridiculous. To say that punches should be thrown at De Gea in the dressing room was beyond parody, even for Keane.

Nevertheless, De Gea was at fault as he was beaten by steven Bergwijn’s low shot. And the great spaniard’s c.v. is now littered with such errors.

The save De Gea made shortly afterwards from son Heung-min’s header was superb, but it did not make up for the mistake.

Bergwijn’s goal changed the whole mood as a game in which United had appeared to be in control began to look very different indeed.

Equally, Tottenham seemed to be within touching distance of victory when Eric Dier bundled over Paul Pogba.

United had improved and were on top. But Dier’s error was a clumsy one. Maybe Mourinho should have chosen one of his two experienced Belgium centre halves after all.