Opinion: Five things we learned from the frustrating 2-1 loss to Man United

The honeymoon period is well and truly over for Jose Mourinho as his Spurs side lost to Man United at Old Trafford tonight in the Premier League.

If was a lifeless performance from the Lilywhites as they looked to build on their three wins in a row.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the match:

Defence still the problem:

To be honest, as poor as Spurs were going forward, a goal away from home can often be enough to earn a win or a draw. Unfortunately, Spurs have leaked two goals a game in the last four matches, which is simply too much. It was only a matter of time before Tottenham had an off game going forward and were unable to counteract the awful defending.

Aurier a problem in defence:

He has been glorious going forward in that right-wing-back position in recent weeks, but when asked to defend tonight he came unstuck time and time again. He also wasted a multitude of crosses from decent positions all night.

Dele the shining light:

Dele Alli was the one positive of the night, taking his goal superbly. He showed some nice football throughout the match but he was unable to carry his ten teammates.

Left-back:

Jan Vertonghen couldn’t cope with the pace of that United front four tonight. To be fair to him, he is not a left-back and playing him against the likes of Dan James was asking for trouble. If anything, it just highlights the need for a new left-back.

Top four race:

Spurs got back to within six points of Chelsea in fourth with the win at the weekend, but they are now nine points behind again. That is a big gap to overhaul, especially with a leaking defence.

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