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This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full League Record of Spurs v Man Utd

Prem          Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home           8   2   2   4   11-11    8
Away           8   0   1   7    4-16    1
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Total (Prem)  16   2   3  11   15-27    9
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  51  20  19  12   89 -64  63
Away (Div 1)  51   9   9  33   55 -101 28
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Total(Div 1) 102  29  28  45  144 -165 91
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   4   2   1   1   10 - 3   5
Away (Div 2)   4   1   2   1    3 - 3   4
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Total(Div 2)   8   3   3   2   13 - 6   9
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Total (Prem)  16   2   3  11   15-27    9
Total (Div 1) 102 29  28  45  144-165  91
Total (Div 2)  8   3   3   2   13 - 6   9
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Grand Total   126 34  34  58  172-198 109
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It would appear that we have absolutely no chance of picking up a point when we travel to Old Trafford tomorrow. We have not won a single match and have only picked up one point in the Premier League at Old Trafford. This draw occurred as long ago as 15th March 1995 when we drew 0-0 there. Our team that day was : Walker; Austin, Calderwood, Mabbutt, Edinburgh; Barmby, Howells, Anderton, Rosenthal; Klinsmann, Sheringham. Caskey, Nethercott and Thorstvedt were the substitutes that day. Just to remind you how long ago that was this match was played four days after we had beaten Liverpool in the 6th Round of the FA Cup 2-1 with Klinsmann and Sheringham scoring our goals.

Very few players wearing our colours have scored more than one goal in a fixture played against Manchester United. Indeed Martin Peters (4 in October 1972), Mitchell Thomas (2 in May 1987), Chris Armstrong (2 in January 1996) and Sol Campbell (2 in December 1998) are the only Spurs players to have done so.

In last season's home game, Tottenham might have taken the lead as early as the third minute. An error by the young French defender, Mickael Silvestre, who made a still more gross mistake later, allowed Steffen Iversen to make progress. Ruel Fox, pressed into service up front, crossed low from the right, Oyvind Leonhardsen beat a clutch of defenders to the ball, but Bosnich, impervious to the booing of the crowd (remember that mock Nazi salute here?) got down to the ball.

After 24 minutes, Andy Cole advanced on Tottenham's goal and put the ball through to Ryan Giggs, who turned Sol Campbell cleverly to score.

The fight back began when Silvestre headed back to a goalkeeper who had already come off his line. The ball bounced whimsically narrowly wide of the right-hand post - but United were not off the hook. Leonhardsen took the right-wing corner, Tim Sherwood flicked his header on and Iversen plunged in at the far post.

Four minutes later, David Ginola, determined and elusive throughout, put over a short corner from the left. Luke Young jumped for it, confusing United's defence, and Paul Scholes put through his own goal.

Tottenham were still 2-1 in the lead, albeit a fragile-looking advantage, when, after 70 minutes, Carr cut in from the right to let fly a stupendous shot from a good 30 yards out that flew past Mark Bosnich into the far corner of the net.

The return game was our last away game of the season. Spurs dropped Ginola in favour of Etherington, who, along with Davies made his full debut. Even Ledley King (absent through injury for 7 months), and new boy Gary Doherty got on the pitch, whilst Ginola was left to view proceedings from the dug-out.

United hogged possession from the start, and took the lead with only five minutes gone. Etherington, tracking back, had to dispossess Phillip Neville and concede a corner, from which both Stam and Solskjaer were left unmarked, and the former Spurs target headed over the line, despite a gallant attempt from Carr, standing next to Walker on the line.

At last, Spurs managed to get some decent possession, as Anderton found his feet. Carr made a perceptive cross, but Anderton could not get his boot round the half chance presented to him inside the area. Then came an equaliser out of the blue. A classy one it was too! Anderton found Iversen on the right with a tasty pass hit with the outside of his foot. Iversen passed back, and Anderton's cross was met by a diving header from Chris Armstrong getting in front of Stam at the near post, to hit the net.

Then United took a convincing lead that was never to be threatened with two goals in two minutes. First on 34 minutes, Giggs again made a path down the middle, found Solskjaer on the left, who fed Beckham 25 yards out. Beckham scored a great goal, as he shaped to shoot to Walker's left, but found the narrow angle, and curled the shot into Ian's top right corner. The next goal came as Perry could only manage a half-challenge against Solskjaer, who was able to find Sheringham with time and space to spare, leaving an embarrassed Campbell behind to fire high into the net. And that was how it ended!

Impressive as Manchester United have been in recent years, I still feel their best ever side was that of the 1960s. Best, Law and Charlton were three of the greatest players to grace the red shirts they wore. In his younger days before he allowed fame and the hangers-on to turn his head, Best was briefly the greatest player in the world. Best could produce tricks that not even the great Pele could accomplish. It was Best more than anyone else who contributed most to Manchester United's 5-1 thrashing of Benfica on their own ground in 1965. He tore the Benfica defence to shreds. For those who mock the Portuguese League, Benfica were, with Real Madrid, the team to beat in the 1960s. The Italians had yet to throw up the great Milan teams that were to dominate Europe for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s when catenaccio became the watch word of defenders.

Charlton was a superb player who instinctively knew when to shoot and when to pass. Whereas Best's forte was the dribble, Charlton's was his thinking power. One of the survivors of the dreadful Munich air crash in February 1958, Charlton was a mainstay for club and country for fifteen years.

Law was a Scot who was arrogant yet very popular with most football fans. First spotted by the great Bill Shankly when manager of Huddersfield, his first act as manager of Liverpool was an audacious attempt to persuade Law to sign for Liverpool. But Law was Manchester City bound and an early traveller to Italy. Unlike Greaves, Law tolerated the Italian set-up but did not hesitate when the opportunity came to return home to play for Manchester United as they rebuilt after a near brush with relegation. Law's biggest disappointment was that it was his goal in 1974 as a Manchester City player that ultimately condemned Manchester United to relegation. It was the one goal he never celebrated and he was clearly seen crying as he returned to the centre-circle.

There were other great players : Pat Crerand springs to mind. As slow as Blanchflower, his promptings from what we now call midfield were just as thoughtful and incisive. He prompted, cajoled and brought out the best in those around him. Another great player was Nobby Stiles. He lacked grace but he was fearsome in the tackle and few players relished a bone crunching tackle from Stiles.

The most surprising aspect to Manchester United's successes in the 1960s was the lack of a really good goalkeeper before the arrival of Alex Stepney from Chelsea. Most of their goalkeepers in the 1960s after Gregg became prone to injury were little better than reserve goalkeepers. Stepney's arrival came in time as they set out on their crusade for the European Cup after winning the League in 1966-67.

So to tomorrow's match. If we are to win away from home for the first time this season, where better to win an away game? But we have not won a single Premier League match there and have to go back to December 16th 1989 for our last victory in a League match at Old Trafford when Gary Lineker scored the only goal of the match. Incredibly, three of that team (Gascoigne at Everton, Samways in Spain and Sedgley at Wolves) are still plying their trade as footballers.

And my forecast? The wider their lead becomes at the top, the more chance their arrogance may cause them to make silly mistakes. Given our long run of failure against them, there might be some complacency tomorrow, particularly if we continue to play King and Thelwell. However, I suspect the best we can hope to achieve is a draw but we will require a monumental slice of luck for that! I suspect even the most rabid of Spurs fans will be surprised if Spurs even manage to snatch a draw against all the odds!

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Cheers, Brian

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