Tinchy Stryder talks Man U v Spurs

I’ve supported Manchester United for years. I can’t remember when I started but it was a while back. They’ve obviously been one of the most successful teams of the past 20 years.

That’s probably why I started liking them. That and the fact they had the best players. I was a big fan of Andrei Kanchelskis. He was a great player — a proper winger.

I’ve been up to Old Trafford a few times recently. The first time was against Tottenham in April last year. Spurs went two up before half-time with goals from Darren Bent and Luka Modric. It was my first trip to Old Trafford and it looked as though we were going to get turned over.

Early in the second half, Michael Carrick went through and Heurelho Gomes, the Spurs keeper, brought him down. Apparently it was a controversial penalty, but it looked good to me. Cristiano Ronaldo stood up and scored. Minutes later Wayne Rooney equalised. After that we dominated, and Man United ran out easy winners, 5-2. It was a great game. Good atmosphere as well.

I’m not sure why Man United vs Spurs games are so special, but they’re always close, high-scoring matches, whether they’re at Old Trafford or White Hart Lane. I remember a game years ago in London [29 September 2001, pictured] when Spurs went 3-0 up by half-time. In the second half, United came back. David Beckham was awesome, setting up Andy Cole and Laurent Blanc, before Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron scored. Becks finished it off with a class goal. He was quality.

I think United will do well this season. They’re up there in the league and are still in Europe. Alex Ferguson always gets them going in the second half of the season. Spurs are the big surprise this year. They’ve got a good young team at the moment. Plus, they’ve got Rafael van der Vaart now, so they should do well.

I don’t think Spurs can win the league, but they might do well in one of the cups. Both teams are in the Champions League this season, where Spurs are doing well, too. They turned over Inter Milan the other week. I wouldn’t mind Man United meeting Tottenham later on in the competition. That would be a decent game.

I’m on tour now so I don’t get to see too many games, even on TV. If it’s on I’ll watch it but most of the time I’m catching up with football on Match Of The Day.

Third Strike is out now. Def Jam Rapstar, featuring Stryder, is also out now