Erik ten Hag has described Manchester United’s Carabao Cup final opponents Newcastle as “annoying”. The manager believes Eddie Howe’s side time-waste and warned his players and the match officials about their tactics.
Ten Hag has the chance on Sunday to win his first trophy since taking over at Old Trafford but may be without Marcus Rashford, who he said was an injury doubt. The Dutchman knows his team face a tough challenge against Newcastle.
“I think it’s a great team with a clear philosophy about how they want to play the game,” Ten Hag said. “The key word is intensity. They do really well. They’re an annoying team to play against, so we have to find a way to win. They try to annoy you. We have to make sure that we play our game and we focus on our game.”
Ten Hag had dinner on Tuesday with Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scot’s methods appear to have rubbed off on the latest occupant of the Manchester United dugout, who offered a message to the referee, David Coote.
Referring to Newcastle’s supposed time-wasting, Ten Hag said: “The referees want to play effective time. [Newcastle] have the lowest in the league and they are quite successful with it. So, it’s up to us that we get speed in the game but also we are then dependent on the refereeing as well.” Opta statistics show Leeds have had the ball in play less than Newcastle in the Premier League this season.
Manchester United have not won a trophy since 2017 but head to Wembley off the back of an impressive Europa League victory against Barcelona in front of a packed Old Trafford.
“It’s all about that glory and honour in football and we deserve to play the final and we have a great opportunity to win the cup and we have to do everything to get that cup to Manchester,” Ten Hag said. “You feel it. The fans are really waiting for it and so we do everything we can to give the fans their honour.”
Rashford was taken off against Barcelona and looked in discomfort as he walked down the touchline. Ten Hag, asked whether the in-form forward would be available, said: “I don’t know. We have to wait for a 100% diagnosis.”
