Soccer is a game that can often get heated and even lead to false accusations. The arguments often spill off the pitch and lead to an even more interesting matchup. Managers are no strangers to this and often criticize the way their opponents play.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was also the victim of such criticism, despite the rapid success of the Premier League club since he took over. And the person who questioned his team’s tactics was none other than Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Newcastle boss slams Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag
Last season, Newcastle United got a bad reputation as a team that likes to waste time. This opinion was shared by Erik ten Hag last season, ahead of the two teams’ clash in the Carabao Cup final. The Dutchman had slammed the team’s tactics as ‘annoying’, saying, “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 to get speed in the game.”
United did win the game 2-0, and it was their first trophy after 2017. And now the two sides will meet again tomorrow in the same competition, this time in the Round of 16 stage. In the pre-game press conference yesterday, Eddie Howe replied to Ten Hag’s comments from last season.
He said that the time-wasting allegations were simply untrue. “We want to try and entertain, so there’s no part of us that goes into the game in a negative frame of mind. A lot was made of our game management last year, and I felt it was falsely reported.”
He insisted that they will play as they wish and do not have to prove anything. “We will just play the game as we see it. We’re not trying to make any points or prove anything – we’re just trying to win the game.”
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Newcastle had already exacted their revenge in the league last season, with a 2-0 win in April. In fact, a Netflix documentary allowed us to see a glimpse before the match. The manager showed his players Erik’s comments and was shown telling his players to beat the Red Devils in a ‘quick game’ with intensity in every actions.
Has Newcastle ever won the Carabao Cup?
Newcastle will have some heavy pressure on them as the Premier League team has never won the Carabao Cup in their long history of playing. They have been playing since the 1960 season, when the first League Cup was played. And despite all these years of participating, they have never won it.
However, the Magpies have come close to winning it twice, once in 1976 when they lost to Manchester City. The second time was last season, when they faced Manchester United and again lost.
Since being acquired by a Saudi consortium, the team’s fortunes have been on the upswing. They clinched a top-four finish and made a long-awaited return to the Champions League. Their incredible 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain, a club that once swayed back and forth on relegation, stands as a remarkable accomplishment.
With an impressive team full of stars like Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Aleksander Isak, and Kieran Trippier, the team is going in the right direction under an exciting manager like Eddie Howe. The Newcastle team will now try to prove their worth by beating Erik ten Hag and United in the Carabao Cup fixture at Old Trafford tomorrow.
