Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag has described Newcastle United’s playing style as ‘annoying’ ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Erik ten Hag calls Newcastle’s play style ‘annoying’
When speaking to the Daily Mail on Friday ahead of Sunday’s Wembley clash, Ten Hag highlighted the fact that a big part of Newcastle’s success this term has been down to reducing the amount of time the ball is actually in play, thus stifling the opposition.
Eddie Howe‘s men have been criticised in the past for time wasting, and have been severely punished for it once this season.
After the fourth-official held aloft a board showing five minutes of added time was to be played at Anfield back in August, Newcastle set about making sure that Liverpool were frustrated in their attempts to play flowing football, but ultimately found a way through our defence, scoring a winning goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
In what was almost a back-handed compliment, Ten Hag said: “It’s a great team with a clear philosophy. It’s annoying team to play against so we have to find a way. They try to annoy you so we have to focus on our game.”
It’s a dangerous tactic to employ against a team like Manchester United who have bags of ability and can hurt you on the break, so if that’s the route Eddie Howe sets the team down, hopefully he has a Plan B just in case.
Both teams are awaiting news on Marcus Rashford
Manchester United have an anxious wait to see if Marcus Rashford is fit to play on Sunday after withdrawing in the 88th minute of the game against Barcelona last night. The England striker has been in blistering form for Manchester United since returning from World Cup duty having bagged eight goals in as many Premier League games in 2023.
Newcastle will be hoping that Sunday will come too soon for Rashford to give them every chance to grab the victory and put an end to a 54 year trophy drought.
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