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Tottenham a great result and a terrible result for Manchester United | Tommy Martin

Tommy Martin joined Joe Molloy on Sunday to discuss Manchester United's 3-0 victory over Tottenham and how it both hurts and helps them.



Tottenham a great result and a...
Soccer

Tottenham a great result and a terrible result for Manchester United | Tommy Martin

Virgin Media's Tommy Martin joined Joe Molloy on the Sunday Paper Review to discuss Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer staved off heightened pressure for a couple of days at least. His Manchester United side beat Tottenham 3-0.

It was a clean sheet that United, and Solskjaer, desperately needed. It was three points that they also desperately needed. With upcoming games against Atalanta and Manchester City, the Tottenham result was always going to be huge. Had United lost to Tottenham, then two more losses this week could have cost him his job. The Atalanta and Manchester City games are more difficult on paper.

And while Solskjaer praised his players and Roy Keane called it a perfect day, many onlookers were unimpressed.

Tommy Martin of Virgin Media is part of that group.

"As much as it was a good night for United, the formation change worked, Varane had a great game and the back three looked solid...the opposition in Spurs were so poor," Martin said.

Martin detailed how much Edinson Cavani's presence helped the team. He also noted that Cavani hasn't always been available this year, so it's not simply a matter of Solskjaer not picking him. Cavani's work rate changed the way in which Manchester United defended from the front.

And that was the biggest change.

Ronaldo creating a couple of moments of magic was not unexpected. He has scored plenty of goals for United so far this season. But his limited work rate and the setup of the team have overshadowed his goals. Against Tottenham, they were able to get the most from Ronaldo while not being exposed by Harry Kane or Son Heung-Min.

Still, although it was a 3-0 win and a relatively good performance, Martin thought United were helped by Spurs becoming the story.

"It's funny the tone after the game, the story became Spurs. The hostility and the negativity in that Tottenham stadium towards the manager, towards the board, towards Harry Kane, that became the story then. And you had Jermaine Defoe in the Sky studio as the token Spurs guy and it was a bit like 'this hasn't worked out the way we planned.'

"So obviously Roy and Souness went to town on them.

"The bigger picture from United's point of view is that was a great result for United last night, that was a terrible result for United last night. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not a bad manager, he's absolutely not a terrible manager, but he's not good enough for Manchester United. It's glaringly obvious and yet he's never quite done enough to get sacked.

"Last night is just another case in point."

That, ultimately, is the benefit of being a club legend. Whereas other managers have to prove themselves worthy of their positions, Nuno Esperito Santo for example, Solskjaer has to prove beyond doubt that he's not worthy of his position in any way before he will be let go.

ANALYSIS: Manchester United's 3-0 win over Tottenham was lucky

 

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