Why Tottenham vs Man Utd could be the most important match for the Red Devils in post-Fergie era

For too long, Tottenham were Manchester United’s favourite whipping boys in the Premier League. Old Trafford is after all where the phrase ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham’ originated, a dismissive statement to sum up Tottenham's lack of spirit. 

In the words of Roy Keane, it epitomised the failings of the club. ‘Nice and tidy’ or in Keane’s more Irish display of emotion   - we’ll f***** do them. And Manchester United has often done them, in a way that has exposed their lack of mental fortitude including two famous comeback victories.

The first was a famous 5-3 victory at White Hart Lane in 2001.  Leading 3-0 in the first half, Tottenham spectacularly capitulated to let in five in the second half.

The second came in 2009 at Old Trafford, where a similar 2-0 score line was overturned by the men in red which at that time included the fab four – Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and obviously Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tottenham have also been a footmark in United’s prestigious history. They were the team United faced in the last game of the season in 1999 when the Red Devils emerged 2-1 winners to lift the Premier League trophy. That team would go on to win the FA Cup and Champions League in dramatic fashion and pick up the treble. So far, United have beaten Spurs 79 teams in the League. The only teams United has beaten more times are Arsenal and Aston Villa (81 and 85 respectively).

The fates of the two clubs have also been intertwined in a way beyond just trophies or matches or even the players transferred like Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov.

In 1992, former United chairman Martin Edwards poached a man called Edward Freedman who was managing director of Tottenham Hotspurs and made him head of Manchester United’s merchandising team. The rest is history, with Freedman turning United into football’s most monetizable entity, with commercial deals that boggle the mind.

Shoe on the other foot

Yet now, the shoe is firmly on the other foot. Since 2013, Tottenham’s trajectory has only gone up even as the powers-that-be at Old Trafford have struggled to replace Sir Alex Ferguson. Since his retirement, United have failed to win against Spurs on their home ground, their worst away record in the post-Fergie era.

The most of recent of these reverses was the 3-0 spanking at Old Trafford in August which showed that the hunted had become the hunter.

Much of this has to do with Mauricio Pochettino, who has transformed Spurs into an exciting attacking unit. As teams stand, Tottenham’s front four of – Son, Alli, Kane and Eriksen – will walk into most other squads and the only shadow over Pochettino’s reign is the lack of silverware in the cupboard.  

It’s no secret why Pochettino is so coveted at Old Trafford. He has created an eye-pleasing Tottenham team and managed to keep them happy on wages that most of their peers would scoff at.

He is faced with a difficult choice, stay at Tottenham and help the club to their first title since 1961 or take over at Old Trafford where the sky is the limit and budgets are non-existent. Pochettino has been coy enough so far, refusing to give a straight answer.o

Of course, it could come to a point where the powers-that-be at Old Trafford decide that perhaps Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserves the job full-time, given the alacrity with which he has exorcised the ghosts of the Mourinho era.

"Seconds left.. Becks whipped in a perfect corner. Teddy flicked it on. The rest is history" @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/JFGqwUHZLP

— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 7, 2019

The post-Mourinho positivity was perfectly summed up in a picture Marcus Rashford tweeted from the sunny locale of Dubai where Solskjaer appears to be regaling his preferred front three – Rashford, Lingard and Martial – with stories of past glories.

If nothing else, Solskjaer has made all concerned at Old Trafford – staff, coaches and players – feel like they are Manchester United again. Solskjaer has won his five games in a row, a feat only achieved by the legendary Matt Busby. However, all of them came against inferior opposition – Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Newcastle are hardly world beaters.

This is the first of Solksjaer’s proper litmus test with matches against Arsenal, Liverpool and PSG to come in quick succession.  They will give a more realistic impression of Solskjaer’s abilities.

Ole and Poch – a story from 1999

What’s not very well-known is the fact that Pochettino was present in the flesh to watch Solskajer’s magic act in 1999. The erstwhile Espanoyl player was sitting in the box and told the press that he celebrated like a mad man despite being a ‘neutral’ when Solskjaer scored in that magical night in Barcelona.

Of course, Tottenham Hotspurs chairman Daniel Levy will guard against any potential Pochettino deal with a zeal that Ferguson once called ‘more painful than a hip replacement’ simply because of Levy’s refusal to budge, which earned Feruguson’s admiration to the point that he gave up signing Spurs players after Berbato.

Solskjaer has made his desire to stay at Old Trafford crystal clear, and on Sunday he has a chance to make a real statement of intent.

On Sunday, we will have to see who’s left celebrating at the end of the match, but the result could potentially decide the fate of all four entities – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester United.