Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the happiest manager right now after his team dismantled Tottenham quite easily at their own home ground.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, and Marcus Rashford were among the goal scorers as Manchester United showed great resiliency in both defense and attack.
The more important fact about this win is the clean sheet for Man United. The defenders have been receiving heavy criticism from the past few matches due to their inability to maintain a clean sheet even after their star goalkeeper David de Gea has been saving the team numerous times.
United had just kept one clean sheet in their past 21 games before this encounter. Solskjaer was credited for a change in formation from his usual back four to a back three with Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, and Harry Maguire playing as center-backs.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Solskjaer was happy with the clean sheet as he said:
“We know when we have a clean sheet we have a chance to win any game because of the quality we have upfront, but it’s about control. I thought we spread the game really well with the wing-backs. After the first six or seven minutes, when they had most of the ball, we settled down, we kept passing, we kept switching the ball, and you could see things opening up.”
This formation is similar to what Thomas Tuchel has adapted at Chelsea and it has made a big difference. It was only the 14th time that Solskjaer has used such formation and it was provided results for the team.
The flexibility of the formation provided no room for the Tottenham attackers to sneak in behind the centre-backs. Also, the positioning of Luke Shaw and Wan-Bissaka down the flank provided more balance in both defence and attack.
Wan-Bissaka was more involved in the attack and it gave us room to put in some dangerous crosses down the right flank. Good tactics used by the manager in a match were very important for his survival.
Solskjaer may use the same formation against Atalanta and Manchester City.
