Ole Gunnar Solskjaer branded Manchester United’s 6-1 trouncing by Tottenham as his “worst day ever” and admitted that his side are “nowhere near good enough.” The United manager took full responsibility as United’s joint heaviest defeat in Premier League history piled on the pressure.

It is the first time in 34 years that United have lost their opening two home games of a league campaign and left them languishing in 16th position, having conceded 11 goals already. Anthony Martial’s petulant sending off was little than a footnote as the home side were already on for a drubbing.

Defensive errors at the heart of bad afternoon

The focus of the inquest will be laid at the door of United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, for not strengthening a squad that showed its promise in the final stages of last season. However, the players who started against Tottenham cannot escape the blame either.

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Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw were all culpable for mistakes that led to Spurs goals. The build-up to the visitors’ second was particularly hard to watch from a United viewpoint. Head-tennis ensued between Bailly and Maguire inside their own area when a simple hoof up-field or even for a corner would have done the trick. Instead they headed the ball for Tanguy Ndombele, who out-muscled Shaw, to score.

That passage of errors and misjudgements summed up United’s first half - the second half was simply a case of giving up and surrendering. United, who conceded 17 goals at home all last season, have now conceded nine already. Fulham, who are bottom of the league, have conceded as many as that and they have played a match more.

Wider problems for United to address

What’s more, this as a performance as a whole was simply nowhere near good enough for United. Just after the half-hour, when Spurs had scored their fourth, Bruno Fernandes’s first-minute penalty seemed an age ago. How did United let a lead slip so spectacularly?

In short, the visitors controlled the midfield. Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic, who was pulled at the break, were not up to the speed of their opposing numbers. Spurs were allowed to slice their hosts open from every angle; there were passing options every time a player in white had the ball, and then the dynamism of the front three overpowered the United backline.

This was just as much about mentality as it was physicality. United fell apart and as a consequence lost their spine and became shellshocked as the scoreline widened. When teams go at United, they seem to struggle to deal with them. It was only two weeks ago that Crystal Palace comfortably beat Solskjaer’s team, then last weekend they required a penalty awarded after the final whistle to clinch an underserved victory having conceded numerous chances.

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It is remarkable to think that this same group of players finished last season so strongly, finishing third and reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League, but was that the anomaly, or was this? Solskjaer has the international break to rue over this most embarrassing of days but for Ederson Cavani, a last minute transfer prospect, to arrive and remedy the problems that United have at the back, he will have to bring a magic wand.

Spurs ruthless in their goal-search

That said, one must remember that two teams played at Old Trafford on Sunday, and Spurs did more than enough to earn their emphatic victory. They capitalised on a feeble United display. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg ran the show in midfield and the signing from Southampton is quickly becoming a valuable part of Spurs starting line-up. The Dane was always looking to release an attacker and dominated the midfield along with Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko.

There is nothing new about Heung-min Son and Harry Kane scoring, both managed braces here. But once again their work ethic and intelligent passes and movement were on show. The enthusiasm and energy that Son plays with make him on of the best forwards in the league whilst is eye for goal is also supreme.

Further evidence was also provided of Kane’s developing game. Not only did he score twice, and could have had a third, but he also set up Son’s first with a quick piece of thinking. He was no sooner fouled by Maguire than he was back on his feet, playing in Son who timed his run to perfection to exploit yet more naff defending. This was Tottenham at their ingenious best - one wouldn’t have thought that they were playing their fourth game in eight days; that looked more like United.

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