It may have been Sir Alex Ferguson’s second-most famous three-word phrase, not quite “football, bloody hell” but an addition to the sport’s lexicon nonetheless. “Lads, it’s Tottenham,” the magnificently damning team talk, was true then. It rarely has been in the Mauricio Pochettino years or, in a different way, in Antonio Conte’s reign. The Italian is the ranting antidote to the softness Ferguson inferred. In his own way, he brings intensity and identity to any club he manages.
But not, seemingly, to one where he hoped to manage. His record at Old Trafford now reads: played four, lost four. The demeaning part of defeat with Tottenham was not the scoreline, as Manchester United won 2-0. It was another statistic. It was the 28 shots Erik ten Hag’s side had, which Ferguson watched, the most any team has attempted in a Premier League game this season. Even Bournemouth conceded fewer shots when they lost 9-0. Even Nottingham Forest allowed less in games where signings had to check the back of their teammates’ shirts to learn their names. Even United permitted a mere 22 in a Manchester derby where they were eviscerated and embarrassed.
