Erik ten Hag warns officials about ‘annoying’ Newcastle ahead of Carabao Cup final vs Man Utd

Erik ten Hag has warned Sunday’s match officials about Newcastle United’s persistent time wasting ahead of the Carabao Cup final.

Manchester United were left frustrated with what they felt was a deliberate attempt to run down the clock when the two sides met in October in the Premier League, with Nick Pope regularly taking his time with goal-kicks. Only Leeds United have had the ball in play for less time on average than the Magpies in the Premier League this season, and it’s something Ten Hag is evidently concerned about this weekend.

Asked about Newcastle in his pre-match press conference, Ten Hag referred to the side from the North-East as ‘annoying’ and called on Sunday’s referee David Coote to take a firm hand on any time wasting.

“I think it’s a great team, a clear philosophy about how they want to play the game. The key word is intensity, they do really well,” he said. “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.”

Asked to clarify on his ‘annoying’ comment, Ten Hag said: “For instance, so if you see the referee want to play an effective time. They have the lowest [time] in the league and they are quite successful with it. So it’s up to us that we get speed in the game and we are also then dependent on the refereeing as well.”

Pope is one of the biggest offenders in the Newcastle team when it comes to running down the clock, but the goalkeeper is suspended for the clash with the Red Devils after he was sent off against Liverpool last weekend. However, Ten Hag said Pope’s absence is not an ‘advantage’ for his side.

“I’m not in the instructions of the opponents, so I don’t know [if Pope’s absence will have an impact]. Also, I can’t influence that. We have to make it our game, so focus on the job and playing football when the ball is in the game, it’s about that.

“So fully concentrated on that. Don’t get distracted from what can be, whatever is on the pitch. We have to focus on the job and find our way and find out the moments we can strike.

“That’s an issue for them [Pope’s suspension], what they have to sort,” he added. “Of course they know it and that definitely is not an advantage but we don’t influence, they can influence it. Of course we have to test it, that’s quite obvious.”