De Zerbi has his Pochettino moment and the strange decision during Tottenham’s draw at Man United

0Dominic Solanke celebrates his goal with Savio, Archie Gray and Omar Marmoush during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited (Reach Publishing Services Limited)Here are our Tottenham talking points after their dramatic draw at Manchester United in the Premier League and their Spanish plans this weekIt started with a kiss. Well technically it started with a push and then a coming together of heads.

Whatever it started with, the script finally ended differently for Tottenham Hotspur. The familiar tale this season of playing well, failing to take chances and coming away with nothing did not come to pass.

It had looked like it was heading that way, Spurs dominant in the first half with the ball and creating big chances for Dominic Solanke at the start of both periods and Conor Gallagher before the interval.

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They did not play like the away side at Old Trafford and for long periods the Manchester United fans among the 74,129-strong crowd were frustrated and left booing as the travelling Tottenham faithful, making their way up the country around various cancellations from Euston, sang loud and proud.

Yet again they could not put the ball into the net and one defensive lapse looked to have seen them off, Matheus Cunha allowed too much time to find Bryan Mbeumo, who was given space by Jan Paul van Hecke to turn and fire past Antonin Kinsky.

The spark – the word offered up by Roberto De Zerbi's translator Enrico Venturelli after the game – came five minutes later through a moment of madness by substitute Rodrigo Bentancur.

The Uruguayan and Jan Paul van Hecke had both launched into lunging challenges, Bentancur's the cleaner of the two if not more of a scissor motion. He got nowhere near Luke Shaw but the United defender took exception to it.

The 31-year-old ran over to the Spurs midfielder off the ball and shoved him aggressively to the floor. The rules over shoving when it comes to bookings or red cards are so interchangeable that you could interpret Shaw's action either way depending on your point of view.

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It was Bentancur's reaction though that changed the course of the encounter as the furious 29-year-old leapt up and thrust his head towards Shaw's. For a moment they went head to head until the United man realised the benefit of being the one thrusted at rather than a fellow thrustee.

It was daft from the experienced Tottenham midfielder and in a moment he became a Uruguayan nutter, leaving referee Stuart Attwell with little choice but to brandish the red card.

There was little dispute to be had with Attwell's call on this occasion other than quibbling whether Shaw should have gone as well.

The same could not be said earlier in the second half during a bizarre moment when the referee allowed play to continue after the home side had taken the ball at least 3ft over the touchline behind the Spurs goal before being allowed to play on and fire the ball into the net.

The referee was stood closer to the moment than anyone, yet had to rely on his official to raise his flag. There's a case nowadays, rightly or wrongly, for letting moments run, for VAR to then referee the game but this stirred echoes of Pedro Mendes' goal that never was in that same arena as it was so far over the line.

There was not much argument over Bentancur's exit though, his first dismissal in a league game since May 2021 when he was sent off for Juventus against Inter. He became the first Spurs player to be red-carded as a substitute in the Premier League since Lucas Moura in April 2023 against Everton.

Ultimately though, Bentancur and Attwell's intervention on Saturday night sparked Spurs back to life, with Harry Maguire waving him goodbye, after a little spell of feeling sorry for themselves.

They pushed forward with 10 men, helped by the energy from the bench of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Omar Marmoush and eventually Mateus Fernandes.

The £85million Portuguese, yet to win De Zerbi's trust in his favoured central midfield position, was the catalyst for the 92nd minute equaliser. He was involved a couple of times in the move that led to Sandro Tonali curling in a perfect ball for Solanke to win his wrestling battle with Lisandro Martinez and deftly glance a header into the bottom right corner of the net.

The Old Trafford crowd were left stunned while the Spurs fans and players went wild. De Zerbi grabbed a spare ball by the touchline to his mouth and tried to take a hefty bite out of it as he screamed his delight.

After the game, football.london asked the Italian what he had said to Bentancur in the dressing room when he came off the pitch.

"I kissed Rodrigo, and I said thanks, because it's clear it's a mistake from Rodrigo, because it's not the right reaction in football, but now Tottenham needs to react," said the 47-year-old.

"Sometimes the reactions are not nice, not positive for the team, but I think in that moment, in 10 players, maybe we played with more courage, more energy and we changed the game.

"For a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character, and I want it. Now I am the coach, I want to see this character every game, because Manchester United in the second half showed character, not just the quality. Just with the quality, we can't win the games.

"With the qualities, with the character, with the right energy, I think we are going to win many games and we are going to score many goals."

It felt like the kind of moment that can change a team's trajectory, but only if Tottenham harness it.

For Solanke, the relief was palpable. The big striker has fallen out of the England reckoning and his performances so far this season had shown exactly why, short on fitness, confidence and quality.

De Zerbi took the step of making the 29-year-old captain for the day, something that went down well with the squad, and the extra responsibility booted Solanke's game up a notch.

His movement in the box was better at Old Trafford, getting into the right areas even if he should have done better with the early effort that Senne Lammens saved or the one he struck over the crossbar from close range from Savio's pass in the second half that had De Zerbi grabbing the four official's shoulder in despair.

Yet Solanke kept battling throughout, up top alone at times and surrounded by the towering Maguire and constantly jostling Martinez. The striker's hold-up play was more like his old self, as shown by a couple of flick-ons, including one bit of play that set Gallagher into the United box for his big first half-chance.

Solanke chased everything, even if it often came after a look of 'off we go again' and a puff of the cheeks rather than the relentless energy he had when he first joined Spurs.

He still covered more ground than any other player on the pitch though with 12.3km to his name, the only player to break the 12km mark and with a higher percentage spent running than anyone else.

His relentlessness will continue to return as his fitness does, but the two weeks of work at Hotspur Way looked to have paid some dividends and that's why he was still strong enough to score that last-gasp leveller.

It was his first Premier League goal in more than seven months and only his second since February.

"I probably should've had three goals today," Solanke admitted afterwards to the BBC. "I wanted to make sure I kept getting as many as I can. I put one away so I'm thankful for that."

When asked whether it felt like a victory with the dramatic nature of it, the striker said: "I wouldn't say it feels like a win. In the first half, we played so well. Dominated the majority and should have been a couple of goals ahead. In the second half, we go a man down and still managed to get something from the game. It shows the mentality and the character of the team.

"We've been a goal down and not reacted in the right way, we wanted to put that right. Goal down, man down, it would have been easy for us to not go for the win.

"We've got so much to work on. The mentality and character was great. We're going to put things right eventually and we'll be flying sooner rather than later."

De Zerbi was delighted for Solanke and explained to football.london why he made the forward captain when he had one of his captaincy group on the pitch in young Archie Gray.

"He deserved to be a captain, because he suffered maybe too much, because 'Tottenham didn't win, Tottenham didn't score, who is the striker of Tottenham? Solanke is not good enough', it's not true," said the Italian.

"Solanke is good enough to play, maybe he is the best striker for us, because of his qualities. He is a complete player, he is a good guy, he has personality, he has to feel good in terms of his physical condition, but he is a great player, and I wanted to show what is my confidence, and what is the importance I give him in this team."

He added: "After the last game, the criticism, I wanted to put him as captain, to show my confidence and the confidence of the team, because all other players were happy when I said that Domi Solanke is captain.

"When one player of us is in a difficult situation, all other players and staff and myself, we have to show to be close with him, like a family, like a team, like a normal team."

De Zerbi said that he saw more of what he wants in Solanke's game against United and hopes the goal will ignite the former Bournemouth hitman.

"If you analyse the behaviour in the goal area when he scored today, and in the goal area in the last game against Villa in our stadium, you can see totally different behaviour, totally different energy, and we need this Domi Solanke, because Domi Solanke is able to make the difference in this team," he explained.

There were other difference makers on the day. Conor Gallagher was awarded the player of the match award and he showed what he brings to the team in tough away days when they need to scrap and run.

The 26-year-old picked up an early yellow card and could have let that restrict his performance but he ran himself into the ground for the team.

Gallagher will not bring the quick-thinking creative play as a number 10 that a Maddison, Kulusevski or Xavi will, but he will lead the press and cause havoc with his movement in the opposition half while also covering for others when they venture forward.

Gallagher made 13 defensive contributions on the night, with Archie Gray the only Spurs player to get more with 14.

Gallagher will sometimes go underappreciated because he's a good footballer and a greater athlete with a great mentality. Fans understandably want a bit of magic, especially in the number 10 role, but every manager needs something like the former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid man in their toolbox.

Similar can be said for Gray. The 20-year-old midfielder is not a right-back and has no desire to be one but it says a lot that he can go to Old Trafford at his age, up against the often switching Mbeumo, Cunha and Amad, and come away mostly on top.

The England U21 international won more duels than any Spurs player on the pitch, with seven to his name, to Savio's six and Bergvall's five. Gray sprinted 366m during the game, more than any of his Tottenham team-mates and bested only by Mbeumo's 373m with Savio's 354m the only other player over 300m.

Gray will not provide the delivery of Pedro Porro but he brings the energy, technical and tactical ability that allows him to adapt to any role assigned to him.

In the other full-back slot, Destiny Udogie proved once again that if he's fully fit and firing and gets a run of games under his belt, he's a huge asset to Tottenham with his ability to get up and down the pitch and link up with and overlap the winger ahead of him.

In the centre of defence, there were mixed displays. Van Hecke, now a father to twins, was ponderous at times, unsettled by an early nutmeg from Mbeumo and then left the United attacker free to turn for the goal. However, he was dominant in the air, making more headed clearances than anyone else on the pitch.

Marcos Senesi's excellent passing was penetrative and purposeful, hitting ball after ball between the lines to the Spurs players on the edge of the United box, with Bergvall set up for one chance by the Argentine's quick thinking.

However, Senesi's one drawback – one most defenders have – is that he's not got the pace Van de Ven has. The 29-year-old was outstripped easily by Mbeumo for a rare second half United chance that Antonin Kinsky saved.

To fully utilise Senesi's passing and avoid the imbalance that two left-footers would bring, De Zerbi may well turn to a back three at times.

Ahead of the defence, Bergvall put in a solid display in Manchester, the young Swede's pressing setting up Solanke's early chance and overall justifying his selection amid the calls for Fernandes. The Portuguese's time will come and Bentancur's three-game suspension will give him and Bergvall more minutes.

The sure starter in the midfield is Sandro Tonali, who is growing into his place as the conductor of the Tottenham orchestra with each passing game.

The £100million man was everywhere and the Italian is no slouch, reaching a top speed no other starting player on the pitch managed with one 34.2kmh run until Marmoush came on and hit 35.1kmh.

As the 26-year-old continues to grow in confidence and understanding of De Zerbi's demands so will the team around him.

His fitness is now there and that was evident in his work in added time at the end of the game, picking out the perfect cross for Solanke and registering his first assist for the club.

Mohammed Kudus is getting fitter and sharper and caused United all kinds of problems before running out of steam in the second half while Savio will become a top player for Tottenham once he starts making the right decisions after his usually great first touch or dribble. He should have had an assist in the second half had Solanke put away his low ball across the six-yard box.

With Marmoush, Maddison, Tel and Kulusevski, Xavi and Odobert to come, De Zerbi will eventually have an embarrassment of attacking riches and his confidence in the goals coming is likely to be justified.

"I think we played very well. Senesi, JP Van Hecke played very well. We can play better. We can play better in the last third. We can play better in the middle of the pitch to keep order in every situation, especially in the first half," said De Zerbi.

"I think we could create more chances if we would have kept the order on the pitch. Savio is a talent. He is still very young. He has to improve. He has to make a switch because his potential is clear for everyone, and he has to work to be better, better, better, better, like the top players."

He added: "I believe, in football, if you create chance, chance, chance to score. If you work well, if you work seriously, and if you have qualities of the players, because the qualities of the players are clear, I think at the end we're going to win many games, and we're going to score many goals."

Spurs flew home from Manchester on Saturday night and this week they will travel to Marbella for a warm-weather training camp to ensure the new-look squad, with the 10 arrivals, fully bond together as a family.

Kulusevski, Xavi, Porro and Andy Robertson were all in Manchester with the team despite not being in the squad and De Zerbi wants his players to grow closer.

"We have to build the team," he said. "Now the target is to build the team, not the group of the players. We are a great group of the players, but we are not a team yet.

"This game, we showed to be a team. And to be a team is to play for the team-mates, suffer together, attack together, defend together, the players who come inside five minutes, three minutes, like Mateus Fernandes, they have to play like they are in the first XI, without problems, without other thoughts.

"And we have to find the balance between the confidence in ourselves and to be hungry in the training and in the games."

On the purpose of the trip to Spain, he added: "To work together, to stay together, to go for dinner together, to know better each other, because to be a team you have to know the team-mates, and be together."

This is not new territory for Tottenham. Mauricio Pochettino was keen on bonding exercises for his squad while at the helm of the squad.

During the three free weeks ahead of the Champions League final in 2019, as he had done at Southampton in 2013, the Argentine led his players on a firewalk over hot coals and a belief exercise of holding a specially-made (unbeknownst to the team) arrow to your throat that would break if you pushed against it.

The aim was to push the players beyond the limits of what they thought they could achieve but also to bring them closer together through the shared experience. They also did that through pairing up and having to tell one exciting story and one boring story about themselves, while commenting on each other's body language.

De Zerbi is unlikely to walk over hot coals or bring out the arrows in Marbella – although you could never put it past the excitable Italian – but the intention will be the same. To create the same kind of unity that last existed at Tottenham during Pochettino's time.

He will hope that Solanke's dramatic added-time goal will have the transformative effect that Harry Kane's last-minute deflected free-kick at Villa Park did for Pochettino's reign back in 2014 when he was under fire around this time in his first season.

A battling night in Manchester felt like the first step for De Zerbi but now his players must walk forward together over the metaphorical hot coals.

Spurs are off the bottom of the table but there is plenty more to be done to improve a Premier League position that does not reflect the quality of the squad or its head coach.

"We have to react, we have to find every way to improve the results, to improve the table, to improve this club," said De Zerbi.

It started with a kiss but now it must end with a bang.