Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 3-2 loss to Man United

Tottenham Hotspur fell to another Premier League defeat this evening, with a Ronaldo hat-trick seeing Manchester United pick up a vital three points at Old Trafford. 

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

The pattern continues – A loss to Wolves. A win away to Man City. A loss to Burnley. A win over Leeds. A loss to Middlesbrough. A win over Everton. And now a loss to Man United. Tottenham simply cannot string two wins together and that is a big problem.

Top four chances – Tottenham were on the outside of a top-four challenge before today and handing three points to a rival has certainly not helped things. Conte and his boys are now relying on the likes of Arsenal majorly slipping up between now and the end of the season, but none of that will even matter if Spurs can’t find a way to become more consistent.

Clutching defeat from the jaws of victory – It was a very low-tempo game at Old Trafford this evening but I think it’s fair to say Tottenham had the best of the ball and the best of the chances. In between the Ronaldo goals, Spurs dictated play and consistently knocked on the door of a strike of their own. Man United were there for the taking.

Yet the Lilywhite defence handed the Red Devils three goals from nothing to lose the game. They didn’t close Ronaldo down. They tried to force an offside trap. And they failed to mark one of the deadliest men in the air from a corner. No matter how well you play, you can’t account for consistent defensive errors.

Kane record – Harry Kane has now equalled the all-time record for Premier League away goals, tying with Wayne Rooney on 94. While this is insignificant after the defeat, it is yet another reminder that Harry is ticking off records for fun while Tottenham are struggling and failing to keep pace with their main man.

The Conte project – This is very much a project under Conte and it could take a good while to get better. What Conte, Kane, and the fans NEED to see is Tottenham backing the head coach to do his job in the window. Failure here feels like a dead-end for Spurs, especially after that long manager search last summer, so Levy and co need to give Conte the tools to make it work. His track record shows he will do exactly that if you let him.

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