Tue 28 August 2018, 12:41
Tottenham HotspurA double-winner with Liverpool in the 1980s and now a hugely-respected pundit, Jim Beglin gave us his thoughts on our performance and 3-0 win against Manchester United.
Jim joined Peter Drury on the international TV commentary for Premier League Productions at Old Trafford.
Jim Beglin
- Began career with Shamrock Rovers, moved to Liverpool in 1982
- Double-winner with Liverpool in 1985/86
- Broken leg and knee injury badly hit his career at Anfield
- Won Second Division title at Leeds before retiring aged 27 in 1991
- Capped 15 times by Republic of Ireland
- Now regular pundit for RTE, BT Sport, NBCSN and the Premier League
“In terms of Tottenham, we know all about their record here at United and away to ‘top six’ teams, but I think that hurdle was jumped with the win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season. Manchester United were strong in the first half. It was a United with purpose and conviction, but not necessarily a United side playing beautiful, incisive football. Romelu Lukaku should probably have made it 1-0, even if his chance was on his right foot and perhaps Spurs would have had a tough climb back into the game from there.
United will get all the headlines but as I said at the end of our work tonight, let’s not forget about what Tottenham have done here, this is a great result.
"Overall though, I thought Tottenham looked good, strong at the back and quite settled. I just remember saying as the teams went in for half-time that Mauricio Pochettino might just get amongst them and say ‘come on, we can play a bit as well’. Hugo Lloris made a good save (at 1-0) but Tottenham really began to play, Christian Eriksen was getting in the holes, exploiting the space between wing-back and centre-back. Tottenham went to another level.
"We’re at the stage now where this Spurs team has been around the block a few times, they know what it’s all about and for me, they are hugely impressive. I’m sure United will get all the headlines but I said at the end of our work tonight, let’s not forget about what Tottenham have done here, this is a great result. It doesn’t guarantee anything but in terms of confidence, I think it’s wonderful if you are a Tottenham fan."
