Spurs 0 - 0 Man Utd

My son Liam is 2 and a half. My Dad (54 incidentally) supports Spurs. I support Man United, and my brother-in-law supports Arsenal. Liam is at that impressionable age where if you tell him anything and say, "say it again", he will, and the more you laugh, the more he'll say it.

The phrase that stuck with him over Christmas was "Come on Spurs", much to Dad's delight. I was furious, Graham, my brother-in-law, disgusted to see potentially another Spurs fan in the family. I haven't given up hope on the boy yet, and his next birthday present may just be the new United home kit.

Watching the match with Liam today, I'm not sure either team endeared themselves to him anymore than the other, and apart from the fact his Dad was going crazy when Raphael was sent off and flabbergasted when Giggs went through into the Spurs area at the end of injury time and crossed, towards Rooney, only for it to be intercepted, I don't think he'd have had much guidance from me either.

As a spectacle today's match was billed as one for the purist: plenty of goals and quality football galore. In all it was a decent game, some of the midfield play by the likes of Modric was sublime at times, but in truth the action in the box was sparse at best, poor to be harsh.

Crouchy proved why so many managers have given up on him in the past when faced with the goal at his mercy, coming onto an Aaron Lennon cross and placing his shot the wrong side of the post. In games like this you have to finish those chances and Crouch, and many of the Spurs front men in general to be honest, are all too guilty of missing those types of chances, hence the feeling they may come up short in the title race this year.

And Rooney had another of those games that harked back to when he shouted at that TV camera in South Africa last summer. Why did he get booked when Raphael was sent off is beyond me? To be honest I thought it was a foul. It was pretty cynical BY Raphael and he knew what he was doing when he ran across Bale's trailing leg, so he had to go in my book.

Rooney should know by now that United have won plenty of games with 10 men and will win plenty more in the future, so at that stage there's no need to panic - not that it's ideal, but don't get yourself into trouble trying to prove a point to the referee (in that delicate and persuasive manner that he has), because the referee is never going to overturn his decision. Concentrate on performing Wayne, rather than trying to win every argument with the ref.


Berbatov had another of those games where you wonder, "Has he really got the minerals to stomach the fight of the biggest matches?" He was quiet. A lot of neat and tidy touches, but that's not enough. United need a player that's going to win matches, and in these biggest of matches he doesn't quite do it for me. Rooney can't be expected to do it all the time, and with the form Rooney is in at present, someone else needs to step up to the plate.

Nani has impressed lately but he was nowhere near his best today. Is he fit yet? Perhaps he's still a little short, but he never penetrated at all today, and he didn't really link up with Raphael either, which was disappointing. Carrick and Fletcher looked second best for the first 20 minutes against Modric and Palacios, but as the game went on it became a more even contest, and Carrick in particular I thought was good getting a few last ditch tackles in, although in honesty he should be up the other end weaving passes through the eye of a needle, not acting as sweeper.

Spurs played some nice stuff. Watching this Spurs team play reminds me a little of the United team that won the treble in 1999. They have fine wingers in Bale and Lennon (Giggs and Beckham in their pomp were United's), and they stretch teams to the width of the pitch in a way that teams such as Arsenal and Chelsea just don't do now. A lot of teams prefer to go through the middle, but Bale and Lennon wait on the by-lines and keep the pitch stretched at all times, and that gives Modric the time to weave his magic in the middle .

The obvious difference is up front. United had Yorke and Cole, who scored buckets of goals. With the service Bale and Lennon provide, Spurs should be scoring buckets too, but for me they're just not clinical enough. Today's was probably a game Spurs should have won, if they are serious on winning the league, or finishing in the top 4, and especially with United down to 10 men, but other than Van Der Vaart's curling effort from the edge of the box in the 81st minute, they didn't really look like scoring once they had the extra player advantage.

For United, it's the same old story that's been served up all season. I think this was probably their strongest side out there, although Nani didn't seem fit and I'd probably have Scholes in the middle instead of Carrick (despite Carrick's fine last ditch tackling), but really, this is about as strong as it gets for United right now.

A lot has been made of United not getting beaten when not at their best this season. In my view, it's about time they kicked into gear and started offering more than they are doing going forward just now, but as long as they keep defending as they did today, all United need to do is nick the odd goal and they'll win more than they lose.

Not the most exciting or inspiring verdict, but I don't think this United team is a particularly exciting one. Other than Rooney and Nani, I don't see much flair there at all. Scholes and Giggs are still class, but United cannot rely on these two legends to keep producing year on year. I'd like to see Hernandez given more of a run out in these bigger games, as I think he has real star quality. Perhaps he'll grasp the big occasion better than Berbatov does at present.

All in all I think United will be happier with the point. If Spurs are serious on qualifying for the Champions League next season, they will need to convert games like these into wins. United will go on and continue to grind out victories without playing that well and by not conceding at the back, but United teams should be capable of better than just churning out wins in this fashion. I hope the game against Blackburn this season which ended 7-1 wasn't an anomaly, but it doesn't seem to be the standard we're achieving every week just now, and that's not the level we normally associate with United.