Roberto De Zerbi may have just had his 'Pochettino moment' at Tottenham after new controversy
Rodrigo Bentancur's red card in Tottenham's 1-1 draw with Manchester United may be a turning point.
That is the view from Spurs expert John Wenham after Saturday's result at Old Trafford.
The Lilywhites midfielder head-butted Luke Shaw after the Englishman had shoved him over.
Stuart Attwell dismissed the Uruguayan for his reaction, but it only seemed to spur Roberto De Zerbi's side on.
Dominic Solanke notched a late leveller with his head and Spurs walked away with their third point of the campaign.
Now, the N17 side have been told the flashpoint could be similar to a Mauricio Pochettino moment.
Why Rodrigo Bentancur red card could be a turning point for Tottenham
Wenham feels that it is similar to Harry Kane's free-kick against Aston Villa in November 2014, which is heralded as the catalyst for the Argentinian's turnaround.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, he said: "De Zerbi, when questioned about it, he said he absolutely loved it, and he saw it as the turning point of the game.
"He liked the adversity it caused, if that made sense. He wanted to see that if we were handed a bad hand, despite playing extremely well, by going down to 10 men, how much more this team could give, and could they play as a team? Could they dig deep for each other? Could they grind something out?
"And they absolutely did that, and they delivered on what he was looking for, so it was really interesting, you don't normally see a manager when asked about a player being sent off for violent conduct, in this case head-butting an opponent, instantly say that he loved it.
"But I got what he meant, I know it sounds strange, I completely got and understood what he meant, because it showed that they are willing to battle for him, when the going gets tough, they will dig in, and he loves it, he just said he loved it.
"He might feel that that could be his Pochettino moment, where Harry Kane scored that free kick against Aston Villa, and it all kind of took off from there."
Why De Zerbi will want to emulate Pochettino
De Zerbi will hope and pray that assessment is right, as Pochettino's era was one of the most successful in the North London side's recent history.
His side with the likes of Kane and Son Heung-min, reached the Champions League final, where they were defeated by Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.
If the Italian could manage the same feat and go one better, it would be a brilliant achievement.
There is a long way to go for that to happen, but success has to start somewhere, and Old Trafford could be the place for Spurs.