Newcastle boss Eddie Howe puts Erik ten Hag right after ‘false’ reports

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Eddie Howe has insisted it has never been Newcastle United’s ‘intention’ to prove Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag wrong – but the Magpies boss reiterated his side want to ‘entertain’.

Ten Hag labelled Newcastle a team who ‘try to annoy you’ ahead of last season’s Carabao Cup final and said it was up to Manchester United to ‘get speed in the game’. Ten Hag doubled down on those comments before the two teams met in the Premier League just a few weeks later. The Dutchman claimed Newcastle’s game management tactics were a ‘concern’ and went as far as to say that ‘we know they delay’.

Howe does not tend to reference remarks made by an opposition manager in the dressing room, but the Newcastle boss felt he had to before the Magpies’ subsequent 2-0 win against Manchester United at St James’ Park as he called on his players to ‘f—— give it to them’ in his pre-match team talk. Wednesday night’s trip to Old Trafford will be the first meeting between the two sides since that highly-charged afternoon, so does Howe feel his team have long proved ten Hag wrong with the way they play?

“We feel we’re a high-energy, high-tempo team. We want the ball in play. We want quick games. 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. The stats may say something slightly different but if you watched us play, you would have seen a different style to the one that was painted in certain areas of the media.

“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.”

Newcastle’s games saw the shortest ‘ball in play’ time of any Premier League club last season (51 minutes, 15 seconds). However, as much as there were occasions where Newcastle have looked to see a game out under Howe – away days at Anfield and the Emirates immediately spring to mind – the statistic also takes into account those opposition sides who have looked to slow things down at St James’, too.

Howe, who stood up to ten Hag on the touchline in their last meeting, previously said he did not know where this ‘time-wasting nonsense has come from because it’s not us’. However, seven months on, the Newcastle boss was not about to fan the flames before his reunion with the Manchester United manager on the touchline tomorrow night.

“Certainly not from our side,” he said. “We’re looking at it independently. We will always respect our opponent. We respect Manchester United but when the game kicks off, we’re determined to try and win.”

Howe looks set to freshen up his injury-hit side in an attempt to do just that with further tests against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund to come in the next week. Newcastle will be without Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson and the suspended Sandro Tonali, and Howe has called on everyone in the squad to ‘give a bit more’.