Roy Keane has expressed how he was left baffled by Nuno Espirito Santo deciding to keep three men back when Tottenham had a corner whilst losing 2-0 to Manchester United on Saturday.
The outspoken TV pundit labelled it an ‘abysmal’ call from the Spurs boss and stated that ‘even the players’ wanted to go and attack, as he told Saturday Night Football on Sky Sports (30/10/21 at 7:35 pm).
Even though Manchester United went into yesterday’s game with that 5-0 defeat against Liverpool still hovering above their heads.
Many were expecting a possible nervy performance from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, but it was far from it.
Spurs played a part in that because there was no aggression, attacking intent or risk-taking in their play.
Whilst they lost 3-0, at one point, when it was 2-0, Keane didn’t hold back in what Nuno decided in the 75 minute.
“The biggest criticism I can give this Spurs team is that they are 2-0 down,” said Keane. “They have a corner after 75 minutes.
“Man United, everyone is back. Spurs kept three players back. They are 2-0 down at home. Abysmal.
“You’re instinct must be we have to get a goal. They have a corner and they keep three players back.
“Even the players on the pitch must say ‘I know generally that’s our shape. But I want to go forward. We leave one at the back. We have to get back in the game’. It’s like you are throwing the towel in. And there is still 15 minutes to go.”
Not many Spurs managers have been on the back end of such a hostile atmosphere like Nuno was over the weekend.
This wasn’t a case of a small sample of booing or one moment when the home fans turned.
But constant booing from the Spurs faithful in that second half because of the performance, towards Harry Kane and that call to bring off Lucas Moura.
And the biggest problem of all was that there was no reaction from Nuno on the sidelines, both in terms of his body language or his ability to impact the game via his changes.
It’s pretty obvious that the writing is on the wall and it won’t be too long before Daniel Levy is calling him into his office.
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