Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Tottenham

Yesterday, Manchester United returned to action in the Premier League drawing with Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game was a mixed bag of performances for United’s players to say the least with evidence of some serious ‘ring rust’ displayed by both sides. We must factor in the break of 100 days with no football but nevertheless  here are my thoughts on Man Utd’s players ratings for the game and a wee break down of the reason for each one. Do you agree or disagree? Add a comment below with your ratings!

 

David De Gea – 5 out of 10

A truly shocking piece of goalkeeping after some terrible Harry Maguire defending makes sure that De Gea cannot be awarded anything higher than a 5 for his display against Spurs despite being solid after and making a couple of great saves including a cracker from a well connected Son Heung-Min header. The damage had been done. I thought de Gea howler’s were a think of the past? Still, Maguire has to take a lot of the blame for the goal also. Hopefully he cuts out the amateur errors and shows himself to be the quality keeper we all know he is again consistently.

 

Luke Shaw – 5 out of 10

A pretty dreary first half performance saw Luke Shaw out of position quite a number of times after committing to forward over lapping runs to no avail. Leaving a lot of space on Spurs’ right for them to exploit on the counter. One moment in the first half he displayed in my eyes a lack of 100 percent desire to get back at one point which really frustrated me and is not acceptable. 2nd half performance though he pulled himself back into the game and actually played very well at times winning the ball back consistently and teeing up a lovely chance for Martial along the ground which Hugo Lloris was equal to. He salvaged a 5 for me but can’t be any higher i’m afraid.

 

Harry Maguire – 4 out of 10

A completely unacceptable piece of defending from our £80 million man saw Stephen Bergwijn run straight across Maguire with ease while wrong footing and twisting the England international in the process. Terrible judgment, stuck in the mud and an inability to read the simple run of Bergwijn meant he never got close and helped gift Tottenham the opener. He made some good headed clearances after this shocker though and some nice passes too, but not enough to be honoured with anything more than a lowly 4/10. Time to start living up to that price tag Slabby!

 

Victor Lindelof – 6 out of 10

Not much to say about Victor Lindelof’s performance other than he didn’t really put a foot wrong and came out smelling of roses compared to his centre back partner Maguire with his defensive blunder. Perhaps the usual roles are reversed but I thought Lindelof did everything ok and was solid though never inspirational.

 

Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 8 out of 10

One of the best players on the pitch against Spurs undoubtedly and the gem in the defence. Our £50 million pound man pocketing Son Heung-Min for much of the game (no easy task) and anyone else who dare try to pass down his side of the pitch. Blocks, tackles, recovery runs, covering, interceptions galore, it was all on display from the beast that we call the ‘Spider’ Another great performance to add to the many already in his short United career. What a player.

 

Scott McTominay – 4 out of 10

I feel a bit harsh giving our lad Scotty a rating this low because he always works his socks off but at half time it was a toss up to me who Ole Gunnar Solkjaer should take off for Pogba. Mctominay or Fred? He took Fred off but Mctominay particularly in the first half was erratic and wasteful, repeatedly giving the ball away and not offering United much in any department. Solskjaer kept the faith and he got better as time went on to be fair and some changes were made which helped but it wasn’t a good performance from Scott by any stretch of the imagination. On to the next one for him but he’s going to have to perform better if he is to keep his place in the side.

 

Fred – 4 out of 10

After a very impressive couple of months in United’s midfield before lock down, it was a big shame to see Fred look so uncomfortable on the ball in the first half leading to a substitution in the 60th Minute for Pogba. A good move it turned out because Fred just wasn’t flowing at all in the midfield and was constantly spewing the ball to the opposition allowing them chances before half time. Not a good match from Fred, back to the drawing board but let’s hope it’s just a bit of lock down rust. He may find himself a rung down the pecking order with this display though…

 

Marcus Rashford – 6 out of 10

A good shot by Rashford in the first half drew a great save with the feet from Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal and he was lively throughout but ultimately didn’t make too much of an impact. However, he always gave united a dangerous outlet down the left. He’s had a great season so far (before his injury) and hopefully he can find that goal scoring form coming back into the side soon. Great to have the lad back! Solid at the least.

 

Bruno Fernandes – 8 out of 10 (MOTM)

A pretty wasteful first half from Bruno saw him give the ball away a good few times (it seemed to be the theme of United’s midfield after they scored the first goal) and he didn’t dazzle by his own very high standards. However this changed 2nd half with the arrival of Pogba & Greenwood on the pitch and Bruno proceeded to combine fantastically with Pogba for the last half an hour and ultimately score United’s goal and salvage a point by expertly converting his penalty low to the left passed Huge Lloris. As the game went on he grew stronger and the momentum was with us. A late penalty shout won by Bruno was ruled rightfully out by VAR which meant it wasn’t a perfect end to his game but another impressive and lively performance from our new boy wonder. Come on Bruno! He just beats Pogba and AWB for my Man of the match but it’s a close run thing.

 

Daniel James – 2 out of 10

1 out of 10 is reserved for a ‘David Luiz VS Man City’ type calamity performance but Dan James get’s pretty close with a 2. Harsh? Well it’s hard to give him anything more even though I think he has a bright future. Everything he touched in the time he was on the pitch turned to rubble. His touch was off, his vision wasn’t on point and it was just one to forget quickly for Dan James, summed up by his one good chance for an assist where he played it 2 metres over the head of Marcus Rashford in an acre of space roaming into Spurs’ box. He’s young and has a lot to learn, he can do that and be a good back up for us but it further highlights the need for United to look for that ‘Sancho’ quality player to solve the apparent void we have in this area of the pitch. Greenwood looked much better when he was subbed on for James on the 60th minute. I hope it doesn’t knock young Dan’s confidence too much but maybe this performance might make Solskjaer think about using James from the bench for a while as an impact substitute to hurt teams late in games with his pace.

 

Anthony Martial – 4 out of 10

On another day if Hugo Lloris didn’t make a very good save to deny Martial then we could be giving him a 6 out 10, but that’s all it would be, even with a goal because the performance from Martial just wasn’t good enough and he lacked any real presence up there. His movement was questionable at times in a role he still doesn’t look quite comfortable in. It does happen (look at Harry Kane for Spurs in the game, he was largely out of the game too!) but i hope that Martial can find his form and be consistent because with Martial it’s not about quality, its about consistency. Can’t give him a higher rating because his impact was so low for United and general play sub par in my humble opinion. I believe Ighalo maybe will be in line for a start next…

 

 

Substitutes:-

 

Paul Pogba – 8 out of 10

Pogba really showed United fans just how good he is and can be for United with his 30 minute cameo back from a long injury out. He looked determined to make an impact when he came on to replace the struggling Fred and did not fail to disappoint, instantly having a positive impact with his passing helping penetrate Spurs and create good chances for United’s best spell of the game. His great play by the edge of the area bested Eric Dier as he skipped passed forcing the England and Spurs defender to desperately attempt a ‘Bob Backlund cross face chicken wing’ submission on Pogba, giving away the penalty which Bruno converted. His impact winning the penalty and helping United equalise showed Pogba at his best. One pass in particular was sensational. Bruno with a deft flick over a spurs player found Pogba and Pogba sprayed a wonderful 40 yard half volley pass switching play to the left to Rashford. With a bit of better control from Marcus he would have been in. A great display from Paul and a lot of United fans will now be expecting to see Pogba start in the next game. Very impressive combination play with Bruno Fernandes in their first game together is something to note too and the prospect of watching these two play together again soon is exciting. Let’s hope Pogba can continue this and get the consistency and hunger into his game for United because his outing yesterday was a fantastic performance from him and could have earned him my Man of the Match performance had he been on the pitch longer than half an hour if and continued in the same vein. Great to see him back influenced a big game positively.

 

Mason Greenwood – 6 out of 10

Half an hour to show what he can do against Spurs? Oh go on then! Some good play by Mason showing us immediately that he’s just a more technical and more intelligent footballer than Dan James in a lot of ways. Mason is special though and again he showed a good range of passing, control and touch with his time on the pitch. A late chance at the end of the game for him went marginally wide to deny a fairy tale ending to the game but a solid cameo display again from Mason. I would like to see him start on the right instead of James in the next game now until we can sign a proper classy right winger to fill this problem area.

 

Matic – N/A

– Substituted on in 78th minute for Lindelof, not much to note. Didn’t put a foot wrong. Perhaps a good calming influence United need after a disappointing game from both Fred and Mctominay….

 

Bailly – N/A

Substituted on in the 89th minute, no time to make an impact. Nice to know he’s fit and available though!

 

Odion Ighalo – N/A

Substituted on in the 78th minute to replace Martial. Offered us a focal point and something different but didn’t get much time to shine.

 

Unused Subs:- Romero, Williams, Mata, Lingard.

 

Do you agree with my player ratings? If you do or if you don’t please comment below and get your own player ratings in too!

 

Thanks for reading. Please check out the video post match reaction and analysis for the match here….