Just like at West Brom, Louis van Gaal gave the impression that he over-complicates things and his thinking is muddled, old fashioned and unclear.
Common sense is, for Van Gaal, too common.
Anthony Martial could have moved up front to accomodate Ashley Young's introduction, or Marcus Rashford could have stayed on.
What did Van Gaal think that Young, whose last professional game up front was as a teenager at Watford, would do against the Premier League's best defence?
It was, as previously highlighted, a baffling decision.
In only his tenth career game, Rashford was hooked at the break.
At Liverpool, his withdrawal was an admission that Van Gaal had made a tactical mistake but the timing of his substitution at Spurs seemed to be convenient.
With Wayne Rooney match-fit again, Van Gaal has an easy excuse to start the captain either at West Ham or against Aston Villa at the weekend.
Young could-or should- have replaced Juan Mata or Jesse Lingard.
Even Anthony Martial struggled against Kyle Walker, who was bamboozled by a wonderfully audacious piece of skill by Rashford.
He's looked imperious in midfield for the Under-21s but Tim Fosu-Mensah has not moved out from the back four in his time with the seniors.
He made his debut as left-back and has excelled at centre-back but his pace and power is perfect for the full-back role in the Premier League and it's no coincidence that Spurs blew United away after he went off.
With Antonio Valencia out of contract next year and Guillermo Varela a raw and rash talent, United arguably need to sign a right-back in the summer.
18-year-old Fosu-Mensah was selected ahead of Matteo Darmian despite the Italian's good recent outings and might kill that debate if he maintains this form.
Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata dovetailed effectively at City but that result, like most of United's big wins this season, was an illusion.
Last week, the pair did little against an Everton side as watertight as a sieve and they never got in the game at Spurs- Mata has had a wasted season on the right in a 4-2-3-1 under Van Gaal.
United fans at The Lane chanted 'Argentina' in the first half but even at 0-0, Marcos Rojo endured another underwhelming game and it is impressive that he actually lasted the full 90 minutes this week.
Outjumped by Toby Alderweireld for Spurs second, the £16 million defender is one of Van Gaal's overlooked flops and must go in the summer.
He was again embarrasing and offered nothing - you could arguably say the same about our manager.
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