Manchester United 'progress and promise' spotted despite Tottenham loss as errors slammed

Manchester United have been knocked out of the League Cup at the quarter-finals, losing Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 in a game full of goals and errors - but some Manchester Evening News readers in our comments section are still happy with what they saw.

Spurs managed to put three past struggling backup goalkeeper Altay Bayindir before United could respond in the second half. Two terrible Fraser Forster errors allowed Joshua Zirkzee and Amad to get on the scoresheet and spark hope of a comeback.

Son Heung-min struck in the 88th minute to seal the win for Spurs, with Jonny Evans' stoppage time goal coming too late. Winger Antony made a rare start but failed to impress, while Leny Yoro looked good after making his overdue competitive debut earlier this month.

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There were good things to take away, according to some fans. Reader Bluecheetahs says: “I know it's a defeat and errors are everywhere at the moment, but I see progress, I see promise. So early in his reign, but what I don't see is shyness, or anything nearly lacking in brave decisions or tactics. Amad, the next Salah?”

Commenter Utd4l writes: “I was particularly pleased by the first half performance. There is clearly a sense of identity in the team, more than what could be said of Ten Hag. As United fans I think we get so delusional at times. We are not going to win every match. And yes, Altay made some costly errors, but his passing accuracy and long range balls were spot on. He hasn't had a run in the team for so long and it showed.”

Petewright agrees: “Bayindir had a bit of a 'mare, but on a general point, I believe keepers should be played more often, because all the training in the world can't substitute for an actual competitive league or cup match. There should be a #1, but the reserve keeper needs to play much more regularly than they do now or this sort of thing will happen.”

Utd20T says: “I am more convinced than ever that Amorim is finally the one to bring us back to challenging for titles. With a makeshift team and the manager looking at different options and players, the identity of the style of play was the same as against City. This is great news! We have beaten City a number of times over the last 6 years, but I haven't seen such a controlled performance as the one I saw last Sunday. The 3 games lost under Amorim have been largely due to mistakes, rather than erratic team performances that we had become accustomed to.”

Petecoi sees the loss of a shot at silverware as a learning opportunity: “A clear challenge for the management is who to sell and who to keep going forward. Amorim must be realising that some players are unreliable for a range of reasons and he simply cannot build a team around them. United always look like they have an error in them and it seems to focus around the defence/goalkeeper. Accepting a goalkeeping mistake normally leads to a goal, attracting greater focus from fans and media, the errors simply cannot continue at this frequency if United are to climb the table.”

Have your say! Are you feeling positive about Amorim's reign despite early difficulties? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.