Paradox of Veron's talent exposed at the vital moment

Manchester United 1 Tottenham Hotspur

For some time now the hope against hope of Old Trafford has been that in one of these days of dire need created by the temporary breakdown of Roy Keane's body and the eruption of his mind, the real Juan Sebastian Veron will stand up to be counted as a player of both poise and influence.

Increasingly, however, it looks as if the United faithful really have to put away the dream. What they see is what, you have to suspect, they are going to get right up to the moment Sir Alex Ferguson recognises that the Little Witch of Argentina continues to fall way short of the £28m expectations that greeted him last year. Veron is weaving spells that just don't stick.

How could they? The moment he imposes one – as he did early in this match which should have been a runaway against Glenn Hoddle's impressively assembled but still almost entirely makeshift Spurs – it is broken by a moment of crass fallibility.

Here was the Veron paradox in full, gory Technicolour. One minute he sent a ball of genius out to David Beckham and set in motion one of those sweet passages of play which recalls the days when United had both hunger and a lovely touch, and on this occasion nearly brought a goal to the splendidly combative Phil Neville.

But, almost without the time to draw breath, Veron sent another ball billowing into the stand after mishitting a pass that, even if successful, would have had no compelling purpose. All creative players operate on a rather greater margin of error than their fellows but sometimes you are left to speculate on whether Veron's would be adequately accommodated by the Grand Canyon, By the time Veron gave way to Gary Neville in the 76th minute his account was hopelessly in the red. With Keane again absent and Beckham bossy but toothless – except for the occasion when he tackled Matthew Etherington with a petulant illegality that if authored by an ordinary working pro would surely have brought a booking – United desperately needed both penetration and economy from the Argentine. They got spasmodic creativity but not a whiff of economy. Veron was about as frugal as Imelda Marcos in a shoe store.

The result was that with Tottenham's American keeper Kasey Keller as resilient as he was inspired, new men Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Keane buzzing with good effect, and the transplanted midfielder Simon Davies playing out of his Welsh skin at right-back, Ferguson had every reason for the nervousness he admitted to after the game. Ruud van Nistelrooy settled matters with a penalty, but was still a source of worry. His authority has dwindled dramatically since last season's 36-goal rampage and his player of the year award from the readers of the United magazine did little to alter his mood.

Ryan Giggs was busier but not in the luminous way that some reactions might suggest, and the shortfall in killer instinct that always accompanies a day off for Keane or Scholes has rarely been more apparent. Missing one of them always has an effect. Going without both feels like an exodus.

Hoddle conceded that United might have won by a handier margin, but he was not prepared to genuflect too deeply to the residue of United's greatness. Rightly, he said that he had reason to be pleased with his team's performance. There was a durability of spirit which United, on this form, would have taken about three weeks to break down, and if Dean Richards, who defended with a calmness and touch that sometimes touched the regal, had shown a little more sharpness in front of goal with only Fabien Barthez to beat, United's three points would have been far from guaranteed.

As it was, the Frenchman was obliged to make two first-class saves, one at the feet of Keane after the Irishman had robbed a sleep-walking Rio Ferdinand and another in the air to cut out a cross from Etherington which otherwise would have landed in the path of the unmarked Keane and Milenko Acimovic.

Ferguson complained that United might have had two penalties rather than one after Gary Doherty had brought down first Van Nistelrooy, then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. But United got the second one and Van Nistelrooy briefly returned to his assassin's mode. "We need to start scoring," said Fergie. "Ole Gunnar could have had three goals, Ruud maybe two or three." Six-one would have been something of an overstatement, however – at least in those areas of opinion not controlled by the Old Trafford thought police. Disgracefully, United permit post-game media access only to the grisly Manchester United TV channel, which announces its sturdy independence by referring to their interviewee, Ferguson, as "the gaffer" and ask questions about as bothersome as sandflies alighting on the rear end of an elephant.

The club's media director also took time to explain in the programme that despite negative press reaction, the truth was Beckham's elbow in the face of Lee Bowyer last week was not a matter of bad intention but carelessness. He also pointed out that, contrary to the reporting of the ignoramus press, Premiership regulations meant that the Football Association could not review the video of the incident because the referee had taken action in the form of a free-kick. The point, of course, was that Beckham had committed one of the game's most serious fouls and the referee had utterly failed to meet his responsibilities. This, in the non-lickspittle view of life, surely demanded review by the FA.

They might also look into the way United are running a press office that would have passed muster in the old pomp of Pravda. Maybe United still believe they have good reason to look at the rest of the world with contempt. It is a dangerous policy, however, and this seemed particularly true on the day United struggled so hard to beat Tottenham reserves.

Goal: Van Nistelrooy (63, pen) 1-0.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Barthez 6; P Neville 8, Ferdinand 6, O'Shea 6, Silvestre 6; Beckham 5, Veron 4 (G Neville, 76), Butt 4, Giggs 6 (Pugh, 86); Van Nistelrooy 6, Solskjaer 5 (Forlan, 76). Substitutes not used: Ricardo (gk), Stewart.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Keller 8; Davies 8, Doherty 4, Richards 6, Thatcher 6; Iversen 6 (Ferdinand, 76), Redknapp 7, Bunjevcevic 4, Etherington 6; Keane 7, Sheringham 4 (Acimovic, 86). Substitutes not used: Hirschfeld (gk), Ricketts, Henry.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire) 5.

Bookings: Manchester United: Van Nistelrooy. Tottenham: Richards.

Man of the match: Davies.

Attendance: 67, 611.