A Manchester United player failed to do what Ruben Amorim wanted and it cost them vs Tottenham

Ruben Amorim urged Diogo Dalot to get tighter to Son Heung-min. Less than a minute later, Dalot was still too narrow and Son's volley wreaked havoc, eventually leading to James Maddison's decisive tap-in.

Failure to take on those instructions typifies the defeatist mentality of this Manchester United squad. They have no hope of mastering Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system if they cannot master routine orders.

Dalot is one of the senior statesmen and the first to approach the United supporters before every game, tribally beating his chest and clutching his fists. He needed to be as intense approaching Son. He wasn't and it cost United.

Amorim's shoulders slumped, he outstretched his arms in disbelief at United's positioning and Casemiro's looseness with the ball. He constantly had to reposition the players and complained to his staff about a squandered overload.

The United coach also berated Rasmus Hojlund for being flagged offside. Hojlund was filmed grinning, or grimacing, sheepishly. Some will dismiss that as an innocent expression. Others will take a dim view of a striker who has now gone 15 games without a goal.

At full-time, Amorim slapped his thighs against his legs before he embraced Ange Postecoglou. United have failed to score in ten matches this season and it is two successive league defeats.

The United players and staff were still applauded gratefully by those in the away section. They had 12 players missing through injury and illness. Losing at Spurs in that context is hardly a disgrace. Yet United have lost three times to the worst Tottenham team since Christian Gross took the tube to White Hart Lane in 1997 within five months.

A banner in the away end read 'We want our club back'. On the other side of the