Following the 5-0 loss at home against Liverpool, many Manchester United fans were calling for the head of manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Fans waited for news in the week of his dismissal but as the days went by, there was no news coming out of Old Trafford.
💬 "We've had a difficult week and they've stuck at it and worked really, really hard to get this result.”More from the boss 👇#MUFC | #TOTMUN— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 30, 2021
💬 "We've had a difficult week and they've stuck at it and worked really, really hard to get this result.”More from the boss 👇#MUFC | #TOTMUN
Antonio Conte and Zinedine Zidane were being linked with the position of Manchester United manager, the former being the favourite.
However, we reached the press conferences on Friday and it was the Norwegian conducting the duties. Solskjaer knew he could not make any mistakes in the match at Tottenham Hotspur, a team who were also under pressure from their own fans.
Solskjaer had little choice but to make changes to the team he played against Atalanta and Liverpool. However, there was more than simply changes to the personnel, there was a change in formation.
Manchester United switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2. The main concern was the defence and the Manchester United boss decided to start with three central defenders.
The inclusion of Raphael Varane was a huge bonus and the Frenchman had a tremendous game at the back for the Red Devils, with his composure helping to keep things in control when Spurs tried to attack.
There were significant changes to the attacking line-up, with the Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho all forced to watch from the substitutes bench as Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani started up top, with support from Bruno Fernandes just behind the front two.
The combined age of the Manchester United strike force was 70 but they used all their experience to create and score goals.
The opening goal in the 3-0 win was a fantastic finish from Ronaldo, who pulled away to the back post to strike a cracking volley. The Portuguese forward played a lovely through ball for Cavani in the second half and the Uruguayan lifted the ball over the advancing goalkeeper to score the second.
With the match wrapped up, Solskjaer introduced the pace of Rashford up-front and the Englishman latched onto a through ball to finish emphatically and seal a good night for Manchester United.
There is no doubt Spurs were poor and that has to play some part in the final score. Nuno Espírito Santo is now under more pressure than Solskjaer in terms of keeping his job and the home fans let the manager and players known what they thought of the performance.
Looking at individuals in the Manchester United set-up and Scott McTominay played well in central midfield, bursting forward when given the opportunity and spreading the play when in possession.
It was the most controlled display of the season by Manchester United and it would be a shock not to see them keep the formation for the match at Atalanta in the Champions League this week.
Solskjaer has once again given himself some breathing space following a bad spell. It will be interesting to see how he keeps Paul Pogba, Sancho, Greenwood, and Rashford happy in this system but he has saved himself for now.