Inside the away dressing room at the City Ground, Hoddle glanced around at the modest facilities and gave a wry smile.
"If the dressing room looks like this, you can imagine what the rest of New Manchester United's stadium is like," he joked.
The Tottenham players burst out laughing.
As the fourth-placed side in the Premier League facing a League Two club, they felt little pressure.
This was also the League Cup semi-final rather than the FA Cup, and a two-legged tie was supposed to reward the stronger team.
"All right, lads. We're guests in their home, so let's not embarrass our hosts too badly," Hoddle said.
"We should know when to ease off.
"I want a victory today. Our real objective is the Champions League, so I'd prefer to settle this tie in the first leg.
"What do you think?"
The players answered without much enthusiasm, though nearly all agreed.
No one was foolish enough to challenge the manager at a moment like this.
"From what we know about New Manchester United, they defend well.
"I expect them to sit deep and counterattack.
"Their centre-forward is powerful, and their right winger is extremely quick, so be careful.
"Christian, stay tight to him."
Ziege nodded.
Since arriving in the Premier League, he had sometimes felt that his body was no longer as resilient as before, and injuries had become more frequent.
Even so, he had been in excellent form that season.
He had already made 14 league appearances and scored 3 goals, which filled him with confidence before the match.
Hoddle's preferred centre-back partnership consisted of Ledley King and Chris Perry.
King was a traditional English central defender, tall and powerful.
Perry stood only 1.76 metres, but his excellent anticipation, interceptions, and tackling allowed him to thrive in the position.
A former Wimbledon player, he was known for his aggressive and uncompromising style.
Whenever Hoddle looked at the young Ledley King, he thought of Sol Campbell, who had abandoned Tottenham for their fiercest rivals.
That memory only strengthened his contempt for those who had criticised him.
Campbell's departure did not matter.
He had Ledley King, a youngster who had never disappointed him.
Up front, Hoddle chose the experienced Teddy Sheringham.
His strike partner was another veteran, Les Ferdinand, uncle of England's leading young centre-back, Rio Ferdinand.
Les was a traditional English centre-forward with strong physical qualities.
Hoddle believed the experience of those two Premier League veterans would bring Tottenham an easy victory.
"New Manchester United may be dangerous by League Two standards, but we're a Premier League club," Hoddle continued.
"From the opening whistle, I want us to attack aggressively.
"Pin them inside their own half. Give them no opportunities.
"Make it clear that we control this match."
He raised his voice.
"Understood?"
"Understood!" the players answered together.
"Good. Go out there and finish them."
At that moment, Hoddle was more confident than ever.
As far as he was concerned, the outcome was beyond doubt.
...
Thirty minutes later, a light drizzle had begun to fall.
Hoddle stood on the touchline in a thick fleece coat, a Tottenham scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.
He should have been warm.
Instead, he felt cold all over.
The chill did not come from the rain.
It did not come from the questioning glances of the substitutes behind him.
It did not even come from whatever furious words Tottenham's chairman might have been muttering elsewhere in the stadium.
It came from the scoreboard.
3-0.
Hoddle could not believe it.
His team had conceded three goals in half an hour.
Tottenham were fourth in the Premier League.
They were aiming for the Champions League.
Yet they had conceded three times in the first half against a League Two side.
The thought left him numb.
Worse still, he could not identify a solution.
His pre-match plan had seemed perfectly reasonable.
Tottenham had attacked from the start, aiming to suppress New Manchester United and control possession.
Even the conditions appeared to favour them.
They had dominated the ball and immediately pushed the home side back.
Sheringham and Les Ferdinand had both worked hard, especially Ferdinand.
Hoddle had believed his physical power would overwhelm New Manchester United's two young centre-backs, particularly Curtis, whom the media had praised so lavishly.
They called him the next Ferdinand?
Then Les Ferdinand could teach the boy a lesson.
Instead, during their very first duel, Curtis gave Ferdinand a slight nudge, knocked him off balance, and took the ball cleanly.
Mourinho's pre-match assessment flashed through Curtis's mind.
"He's a fine player and physically strong, but that was more true when he was younger.
"He's not the same footballer now.
"Use your body against him, Curtis."
After winning possession, Curtis immediately found Juninho.
The Brazilian carried the ball into Tottenham's half before passing to Drogba, who had dropped away from the front line.
Drogba held off Chris Perry with ease.
Perry tried desperately to escape and challenge for the ball, only to discover just how strong the Ivorian was.
On the right, Hleb beat Ziege and cut inside.
Drogba quickly released him.
Before Ledley King could recover, Hleb crossed toward Malouda at the far post.
Malouda arrived unmarked and tapped the ball into the net.
Less than three minutes had been played.
New Manchester United were ahead.
What happened next was even worse.
Hoddle anxiously urged his players forward as unease began to spread through him.
New Manchester United showed no fear of Tottenham's pressure.
Instead, they produced two more brutally efficient counterattacks.
Whether they broke from the left or the right, the pattern was the same.
A winger cut inside, combined with a teammate, and exploited the space behind Tottenham's defence.
New Manchester United scored again in the 19th minute.
Then they struck once more in the 26th.
3-0.
By then, Hoddle was completely stunned.
He even began wondering whether there was something fundamentally wrong with his tactics.
No matter how hard he thought, however, he could find no answer.
He glanced back toward the bench and saw Rebrov.
Tottenham had spent heavily to bring in the Ukrainian.
As Shevchenko's former strike partner, Rebrov had once performed just as impressively in Ukraine.
Since moving to England, however, his form had been disastrous.
Could Hoddle rely on him now?
He was not sure.
That uncertainty followed him into the dressing room at half-time.
Hoddle shouted at his players and berated them.
He pointed at men earning far more than New Manchester United's squad and accused them of failing to show the same commitment.
He warned that if they did not turn the match around, there would be consequences.
The result was immediate.
Unfortunately for Tottenham, so was Mourinho's response.
At the start of the second half, Mourinho made two decisive changes.
First, he replaced Malouda with Evra and switched to a back five.
New Manchester United dropped into their own half and committed fully to defending and counterattacking.
Then he replaced the tiring Juninho with Alou Diarra, giving the Red Rebels three central midfielders to crowd the middle and close down Tottenham's playmakers.
Hoddle responded by replacing the ineffective Les Ferdinand with Rebrov.
It changed nothing.
Once New Manchester United tightened their defensive shape, Rebrov found almost no space in which to operate.
Whenever he received the ball, a defender or midfielder immediately pressed him.
His passing lanes were cut off, and his connections with the rest of the team disappeared.
With nowhere to go, he repeatedly lost possession.
At times, he was also fouled or caught by subtle challenges that the referee failed to notice.
The minutes passed.
Hoddle's face turned grey.
He began to suspect that New Manchester United's Portuguese manager had planned everything from the beginning.
Mourinho had encouraged Tottenham's complacency, attacked before they could settle, taken control of the tie, and then retreated into a suffocating defensive structure.
The problem was that Tottenham were poor at breaking down deep defences.
Their fourth-place position in the Premier League had been built largely on defensive strength rather than exceptional attacking football.
New Manchester United had also identified Chris Perry's weaknesses and repeatedly attacked the channels around him, while tearing apart Tottenham's flanks.
Hoddle regretted not recognising the danger earlier.
Before the match, he had been too delighted by the draw.
No matter how impressive New Manchester United appeared, they were still only a League Two team.
Surely they could not be more dangerous than Sunderland?
Tottenham had already beaten the Black Cats.
Why should they fear a lower-league surprise package?
As the match continued, Hoddle understood how costly his carelessness had been.
It might have ended Tottenham's League Cup campaign.
At the same time, Mourinho's team had taught him a painful lesson.
A 3-0 deficit left Tottenham facing an enormous task at White Hart Lane.
Given New Manchester United's defensive organisation and Tottenham's limited attacking power, scoring four goals in the second leg without conceding on the counter would be extraordinarily difficult.
When the referee blew the final whistle, Hoddle forced himself to walk toward Mourinho.
He summoned a smile and offered his hand.
"You won, Mr. Mourinho," Hoddle said reluctantly.
He had no choice but to admit defeat.
Mourinho smiled.
He had been confident before the match.
Every public display of weakness had been designed to encourage Hoddle's arrogance, make Tottenham underestimate New Manchester United, and tempt their manager into tactical mistakes.
From the moment Hoddle named his strongest side, Mourinho had known victory was possible.
The only question was how large the winning margin would be.
Hoddle had been an outstanding player.
As a manager, he was far less impressive.
Even Mourinho had not expected a three-goal victory.
But that was football.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hoddle," Mourinho said.
"Your team played very well.
"It's simply unfortunate that there can only be one winner."
His words were already laying the groundwork for the second leg.
Hoddle was displeased but pretended otherwise.
"You were better today, and you deserved the result.
"But this was an exception.
"At White Hart Lane, we won't make the same mistakes again."
With that, Hoddle turned and walked away.
Whether he would attend the post-match press conference remained uncertain.
If he did, it promised to be entertaining.
Mourinho enjoyed watching his rivals face the media's criticism, particularly when the opponent was someone as unpopular as Hoddle.
This defeat would place enormous pressure on the Tottenham manager.
We won this match, and we won't lose the next one either, Mr. Hoddle.
Mourinho watched him leave with a quiet smile.
(To be continued.)