Manchester United vs Tottenham preview - Ferguson - AVB faces a challenge

Posted Saturday, September 29, 2012 by PA

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Andre Villas-Boas has a big challenge on his hands at Tottenham.

After his ill-fated spell at Chelsea last season, Villas-Boas has now been given a job at another of England's top clubs, with the same question marks hanging over him that existed at Stamford Bridge.

As Villas-Boas must deal with the expectation created by Harry Redknapp's successful stint at White Hart Lane, it did not take long for the first criticisms to surface.

There were more grumbles following last week's win over QPR that catapulted Tottenham into the top half of the table, and now they head to Manchester United looking for their first win at Old Trafford since 1989.

"He has a challenge," said Ferguson.

"He wasn't at Chelsea very long, but he came to our ground early last season and his team tried to play football.

"That's his philosophy and I think he's carrying that out at Tottenham as well.

"He suits Spurs. They've always had a history of playing good football. I think he'll carry on that way.

"I hope they do well because it's a difficult industry these days, particularly for a young manager.

"It must be very daunting and challenging to go to a big club. It's full of risk because it's a results industry."

Going to Old Trafford has been a daunting experience for Tottenham ever since Gary Lineker scored the only goal 23 years ago.

In the intervening period, the best they have managed are four draws, including the infamous Pedro Mendes 'goal that never was' in January 2005.

"Our record against Spurs is very good," said Ferguson.

"Sometimes you have these situations where you get a team that you always get good results against.

"It was the same when I was at Aberdeen.

"It didn't matter what team I played against Dundee at Dens Park I would win. At one point I played them before a midweek European game and I played seven reserves and won 5-1."

Jan Vertonghen insists Tottenham are more than capable of ending their 23-year wait for a victory at Old Trafford.

Having revamped the Manchester United squad with the signings of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, Ferguson is desperate to win back the Barclays Premier League, and aside from an opening defeat at Everton the club have started the season strongly.

Tottenham's record - they have only taken four points on trips to face the Red Devils since Gary Lineker scored in their last win in 1989 - makes them big underdogs for the clash, but Vertonghen insists the Londoners can pull off an upset.

Vertonghen knows what it is like to taste victory at Old Trafford having won there last year in the Europa League with Ajax.

And with Spurs now seemingly finding their rhythm under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, the Belgian is hopeful about his team's chances of putting their Old Trafford hoodoo to bed.

"We are strong enough to beat them," Vertonghen said.

"We have a good team, we've won the last two or three games now playing good football and everyone is hopeful of getting a good result at Old Trafford.

"Teams have done well there and that gives us hope.

"When I played against them last year they beat us in the Amsterdam Arena 2-0 and I think they thought they could beat us at 60 per cent.

"It was a good game at Old Trafford. We beat them in the last minute and that showed that with good counter-attacks you can win there."

Although Wednesday's win at npower League One side Carlisle will hardly stand among Villas-Boas' best achievements in management, it did maintain the momentum that the Portuguese has built up in the last two weeks at White Hart Lane.

A rocky first half against QPR aside, Spurs have looked much better under the 34-year-old recently.

The Londoners would have gone into the match on the back of a four-match winning streak had they not had two legitimate goals ruled out against Lazio, and three more points at Old Trafford could hoist the team into the top four.

Vertonghen, 25, said: "If we win we can get up towards fourth or fifth place.

"Maybe Chelsea are the strongest team with the biggest squad but look at Arsenal, look at us, everybody can win.

"Look at (Manchester) City, they were beaten by Aston Villa at home this week.

"You have to go for the highest goal and see where it ends."