United 3 - 0 Tottenham

DDG

Valencia Jones Smalling Blind

Herrera Carrick(Rafael) Young

Mata(Perreira) Rooney Fellaini(Falcao)

It's a knock-out

FINALLY! That was by far our best performance this season. Our attacking intent was a joy to watch as Rooney and the boys gave Tottenham the knockout punch (excuse the overused pun – I’m clearly lacking originality). That’s probably it for Tottenham, I don’t think they’ll make it into the top four this year. So it’s one less headache for us. Had they won today, we’d have been in serious trouble.

We hadn’t beaten Tottenham in our last 5 fixtures so I was a bit nervous before the game. However, when I saw our players busting their lungs with excellent runs and all wanting to get involved, the tension eased a bit. Having said that, I was only fully relaxed when the game was 10 minutes shy of the final whistle. With this Man Utd team, you just don’t know. There are too many players that look like an accident waiting to happen.

I don’t think I can remember a game when there wasn’t a single player who didn’t do well. Our players needed to stand up and be counted after last Monday’s defeat to Arsenal and that they did. The much maligned Smalling and Jones were excellent, with the exception of the first few minutes when Jones made my heart skip a beat...or two. Thankfully De Gea cleared Jones’ overhit wayward pass and we never looked back from then on. Harry Kane was completely out of the game and never stood a chance against the mighty Christopher Smalling. I’ve said it time and again, I don’t mind Smalling. No world beater, definitely, but he’s a good defender. It was also good to see Jones getting into tackles without getting himself injured. Valencia and especially Blind were really good on the overlap.

Herrera and Mata enjoyed themselves out there and were clearly really happy to be playing together. The two were highfiving each other and smiling all game long. Mata was given a standing ovation which was quite pleasing. I think Mata has unfairly been used sparingly this year to accommodate for the underperforming Di Maria. I’d seriously be pissed off if Mata is dropped for Liverpool’s game so that Di Maria, who’s obviously not in form, gets back into the starting XI.  

Fellaini won the man of the match award as he scored a well taken goal and caused havoc in the Spurs’ box to create the second one. He worked really hard and his goal celebration  showed what that goal meant to him. I must admit I wanted Fellaini out during the summer. He wasn’t the player we had expected him to be last year but he has answered his critics with some very good displays this season. He has also scored 5 goals this year and his presence in the box causes the opposition’s defence one big headache. The only thing I don’t like about Fellaini’s presence in our team is that, more often than not, we start playing the long balls towards him. It was effective on an occasion or two but the long ball game is too boring for my liking. In today’s game, despite Fellaini being on the field, we didn’t play any long balls and we all know how good we were. Well played.

Rooney was absolutely excellent today. His runs were timed to perfection and some of his passes were brilliant. I can remember him using his outside of the boot to deliver an immaculate curling pass towards Fellaini. That’s the kind of football I love and that pass had me applauding in front of the screen. The person watching the game with me was equally impressed. He did extremely well to score the goal and his celebration was simply brilliant. I think he did very well when he played in midfield this season but I’m glad he’s back up front.

Young should also get a special mention. He gave Walker, perhaps England’s best right back, a torrid time. Young has been good whenever he played this year but I think that was his best game this season.

The catalyst of it all was, in my opinion, Michael Carrick. It’s not a coincidence that our best game this season coincided with him being back in the starting XI. Whenever our players didn’t know what to do with the ball, they sought Carrick and he did the rest. He scored our second and created our first and was given a huge standing ovation when he was subbed off. I can’t understand how on earth I still hear football fans who don’t rate Carrick. Ferguson, Hodgson, Moyes and now van Gaal cannot be all wrong. What a player!

Huge game next. It could prove to be our biggest game of the season. We’re playing the form team of the moment and, thanks to today’s game, I’m being more optimistic about the game. We have been shit away from home but Liverpool have dropped 16 points at Anfield so I wouldn’t be surprised if we got something out of the game, despite Liverpool's current form. A draw would do, a win would be a bonus. If Liverpool win their game away to Swansea, then we just cannot afford to lose Sunday’s game. 

Looking at the table, you just cannot help but wonder what would have been had United won at least two games of the many they have drawn away from home. What would have been if United won away to Leceister when we threw away a two goal lead? Our home form has been really good, only Chelsea have a better record. It's a shame we dropped so many points on the road.

Anyway, Come on United!