Carrick has Romero, Amorim, Mainoo and co. to thank for inevitable permanent Man Utd appointment | OneFootball

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur is a ‘clash between the two stupidest big Premier League clubs over the last couple of years’, and it is always ‘almost guaranteed to be absurd’.

This makes this fixture incredibly difficult to forecast, but our Dave Tickner calling a red card for Cristian Romero was his safest of his ten pre-match predictions. 

Following his full-blooded challenge on Tottenham’s board due to their lack of January transfer business, Romero was equally as committed with his needless follow-through on Casemiro to be sent off inside half an hour against Man Utd.

It was as utterly idiotic as expected from a player who cannot be trusted to lead this broken Spurs ship without having a brainless act of his own to sink them further.

Before Romero’s latest calamitous moment, Spurs were actually a match for Man Utd as the two sides exchanged good chances, but the hosts took control thereafter.

There was more evidence of United’s defensive shakiness displayed against Fulham here, but everyone associated with the Red Devils will happily accept having that weakness because their fabled DNA has finally come to the fore again.

In his brief time in charge, interim manager Michael Carrick has been faultless as Man Utd deservedly won four straight Premier League games (supporter Frank Ilett is so close to having that haircut) against Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and now Spurs via performances that have been a throwback to the United of old.

But Carrick has been dealt a very good hand by INEOS, which is mainly because former boss Ruben Amorim took them so far away from their deep-rooted principles that only a few simple decisions were needed to spark an immediate upturn.

This has mainly been the long-awaited recall of Kobbie Mainoo, who has remarkably taken no time to return to his masterful best despite his long exile, the switch to a four-man defence and a notable increase in United’s intensity both in and out of possession.

Man Utd are obviously lacking in certain positions that will be addressed in the summer, but there was always the feeling that this group of players is capable of much more than was shown under Amorim, and recent showings have underlined that view.

This was certainly not the best of United’s recent performances, but they were still far too much for Spurs in their current sorry form under Thomas Frank and could have won by a significant scoreline had they not played with their food.

United took the lead only nine minutes after Romero’s dismissal, with summer signing Bryan Mbeumo scoring his ninth Premier League goal of the season via one of those straight off the training ground corners that are always very satisfying when they come off.

One of the many negative hallmarks of Amorim’s reign was Man Utd’s wastefulness as they often missed big chances to improve their Champions League hopes, and they ran the risk of falling into this trap against Spurs as the scoreline remained 1-0 heading into the closing stages.

But it also felt inevitable that Spurs would have been picked off at some stage and United’s second goal came almost instantly after Frank made an attacking triple change for the final ten minutes.

Just as Mainoo has been a revelation alongside revitalised Casemiro in centre-midfield, the same can be said for Fernandes, who has unsurprisingly been far more influential since returning to his favoured advanced role under Carrick.

He has often been the provider in recent matches, but he converted a chance for United’s second against Spurs as he deftly converted a brilliant cross from Diogo Dalot. It is now even clearer than it was before that the Red Devils cannot sacrifice their captain in a summer rebuild; he’s simply too influential to be let go.

Fernandes and Mainoo may well end up contributing to Carrick landing the Man Utd job permanently in the summer, with the win against Spurs adding to the feeling that INEOS will be put in an impossible and familiar position regarding their next permanent manager appointment.