In the visiting dressing room at the City Stadium, Hoddle glanced at the humble dressing room and smiled wryly.

"Even in the dressing room, we can imagine what the stadium will be like at the new Manchester United!" Hoddle smiled at the player.

The words immediately caused a burst of laughter from the players.

Playing fourth in the Premier League against a League Two side, they really don't have much pressure, and this is a League Cup semi-final, not an FA Cup, and the two legs are more of a test of quality.

"Okay, guys, we're guests at someone's house, don't be too embarrassed to save face, we should take it as soon as we see it, I hope to get a win in this game, you know, our goal is the European Champions Cup, so I want to be able to end this fight, what do you think?"

The sparse answers of the players basically agreed with the manager's words, and no one would be stupid enough to disagree with the manager at such a time.

"From what we know about the new Manchester United, this team has a good defense, I think they will be based on the counter-attack first, their striker is tall and the right winger is very fast, so be careful when defending, Christian, you watch him well!"

Ziggy nodded, although he feels that he is not as fit as he used to be and has more injuries than before when he came to the Premier League, he is still feeling very good this season, he has made 14 league appearances, scored three goals, and is in excellent form, which makes him full of confidence in this game.

Hoddle's trusty centre-back duo is Ridley King, a tall and muscular England centre-back, and Chris Perry, a shorter centre-back at 1.76m, but his excellent awareness and ability to intercept and tackle make him a good centre-back.

Every time he saw a young Ridley King, Hoddle thought of Campbell, who had defected to his sworn enemy, and he couldn't help but look down on those who criticized him, and he felt that Campbell's departure was not important, because he had Ridley King, a young player who never disappointed him.

Up front, he uses experienced veteran Sheringham in the game, and his partner is also veteran Les Ferdinand, uncle of England's No. 1 centre-back Leo Ferdinand, who is a fit-and-match English centre-forward.

He believes these two veterans who have been in the Premier League for many years can bring him a low-hanging fruit.

'The attacking power of the new Manchester United is very good in League Two, but unfortunately we are a Premier League team, so from the very beginning I have to attack the new Manchester United and suppress them in the half, not give them a chance and then tell them that we are in control of the game!'

"Understood?" Hoddle asked in an accentuated tone.

The players immediately replied in unison, "Understood!" ”

"Very good, go on the field and kill them!"

At this moment, Hoddle has unprecedented confidence, this is a game without suspense!

…………

…………

Thirty minutes later, it was drizzling in the sky, and Hoddle was wrapped in a thick fleece jacket with a scarf around his neck, which was Tottenham's scarf, and it was warm, but even so, he felt chills all over his body.

His chill did not come from the cold rain in the sky, nor from the questioning eyes of the players on the bench behind him, nor from the scolding of the Tottenham boss somewhere on the pitch, but from the scoreboard on the field.

3：0！

He couldn't believe that his team had conceded 3 goals in half an hour!

We are a Premier League team, a fourth-placed Premier League team, who are going to the Champions League next season, and we were conceded three goals in the first half by a League Two team?

This sent chills down the sleeve through Hoddle's body.

However, he failed to find a solution to the problem.

His pre-match arrangement was very reasonable, at the beginning of the game, he took the lead in the offensive to suppress the attack of the new Manchester United, and even God was helping him, his team got the right to serve, so he attacked the new Manchester United at the beginning and controlled the game.

Sheringham and Rio Ferdinand also worked hard, especially for the latter, with Hoddle believing his impact was enough to destroy the two young centre-backs at the new Manchester United, especially Curtis, who was praised by the media as a flower.

Didn't he say he was Ferdinand II? I let Ferdinand's uncle teach you a lesson!

But the result?

In the first contact, Les Ferdinand was gently squeezed by Curtis, and he couldn't even hold the ball and was cut off directly.

At that time, Curtis's assessment of Mourinho came to mind, he was very good, his physical fitness was good, but that was when he was young, and now he is not as good as before, Curtis, try to suppress him with your body!

Curtis found Juninho Jr., who dribbled forward into Tottenham's half, and then passed to Drogba, who retreated in front, and Drogba firmly pressed Chris Perry behind him, and although he desperately wanted to get rid of it, he quickly realized how strong Drogba was.

On the right, Hleb got rid of Ziegy and cut inside, but Drogba's pass found him quickly and then he crossed to Malouda on the other side of the net before Ledley King could get back into the net, who slotted home with ease.

Less than 3 minutes into the game, the new Manchester United took the lead in breaking the deadlock on the field!

And after that?

Hoddle was in a hurry to let the players on the field press up, and he felt a little scared.

However, the new Manchester United was not afraid of being suppressed at all, they used two very efficient counterattacks in the same way, or cut in from the left side, or cut from the right side, and then cooperated, respectively, in the 19th and 26th minutes, scored two goals in a row, 3:0!

At this moment, Hoddle was completely stunned, and he even wondered if there was something wrong with his tactics.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of a solution to the problem in the end.

Looking back at the bench, he found that the Ukrainian Rebrov, who had been heavily introduced this season, as Shevchenko's former teammate, his performance in Ukraine was no worse than Shevchenko's, but after coming to England, his performance was a disaster.

Can you count on him?

Hoddle hesitated!

He then took the hesitation into the half-time dressing room, where he snarled at his players, pointing at the bastards who were paid much more than the new Manchester United players but couldn't do their job, and he vowed that if he didn't win the game, he would make them look good.

But the result?

At the beginning of the second half, Mourinho made a decisive substitution, first replacing Malouda with Evra, playing a defensive counterattack with a back five, shrinking back to his own half, and then replacing Juninho Jr., who was not physically fit, with Arau Diarra, and the three midfielders were stubbornly entangled with each other.

Although Hoddle also replaced Les Ferdinand with Rebrov who had a tragic performance throughout the game, he still couldn't change the situation on the field, especially when the new United were shrinking their defence, and Rebrov could hardly find even the slightest space to move in the new Manchester United half.

As soon as he got the ball, the opposing player forced him over, cut off his contact with his teammates, leaving him with nowhere to pass the ball, and finally he could only watch the ball be cut off, sometimes violated, and eat a few black feet.

As the minutes passed, Hoddle's face was as stretched as a pig's liver, and he even suspected that the Portuguese manager of the new Manchester United had already calculated that he would win the game first and then play to the death at the beginning, taking advantage of his team's carelessness.

But the problem is that Tottenham are not good at attacking tough battles.

The reason why Tottenham can sit fourth in the Premier League this season is thanks to their defence, in fact, their attack is not very good, but the new Manchester United cleverly used Chris Perry to break Tottenham's two ribs, which Hoddle regretted.

He should have thought of this before the game, but at that time, he was stunned by the team that was signed, and felt that no matter how strong it was, it was only a team in League Two, and no matter how black it was, it could be better than the black cat Sunderland?

Even the black cats were pierced by Tottenham, not to mention just a little dark horse from League Two!

But until the game has progressed, Hoddle has deeply felt how stupid he was before the game, ruining the team's journey in the League Cup, and at the same time, he also clearly knew that Mourinho's team had taught him a good lesson.

3:0, according to the situation of the new Manchester United in the second half, if you want to score 4 goals at the White Hart Lane stadium and ensure that you are not counterattacked by the new Manchester United, this is undoubtedly a very difficult thing for Tottenham Hotspur, which has a bad attack.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Hoddle stubbornly walked towards Mourinho, who squeezed out a smile and shook Mourinho's hand.

"You win, Mr. Mourinho!" Hoddle had to bow his head.

Jose Mourinho had a deceptive smile and was confident of winning the game before the game, and from the time he repeatedly showed weakness to Tottenham, he was trying to boost Hoddle's pride, make him despise the new United and then lead him to make mistakes.

It should be said that from the moment Hoddle discharged the main lineup, Mourinho already knew that there was no problem in winning this game, the key was to win a few goals.

Hoddle is good as a player, but not so good as a coach!

But to be able to win him by 3 goals, even Mourinho himself felt a little unbelievable, but this is football!

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hoddle, you're doing a great job! It's a pity that there can only be one winner in a game! 'Jose Mourinho is clearly setting the stage for the next game.

Hoddle was a little unhappy, but pretended to be indifferent, "You played better, you deserved a victory, but it was an accident, at White Hart Lane, we won't be like this today!" ”

With that, Hoddle turned and left, not knowing if he would attend the press conference later, and if he would, it would be interesting.

Mourinho would love to see his foe-hugging and bombardment by the media, especially since Hoddle himself is not very popular, and the defeat in this game will put a lot of pressure on him.

I won this one, and I can't lose the next, Mr. Hoddle!

Mourinho looked at his back and thought with a deep smile.

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