Ten Hag: 'Newcastle played football to annoy opponents'

Newcastle's matches in the Premier League this season have a live ball time of 53.4% ​​of the total time, just more than Leeds. Coach Ten Hag pointed this out in a press conference on February 24, then said: "Newcastle is strong and has its own philosophy, very annoying. They try to irritate the opponent, so we have to focus on the match and find remedy".

The Dutch coach also said that Newcastle succeeded in extending the match time. Another statistic shows that only Chelsea enjoy more compensation time per game than Newcastle, with 9 minutes 11 seconds compared to 9 minutes 04. "Our mission is to improve the pace of the game," added Ten Hag. . "We need to focus and choose the right moment to attack. But it also depends on the referee."

Referee David Coote was appointed to referee the 2023 English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, February 26. According to the 53-year-old coach, the referee needs to make up more minutes for the match if Newcastle prolongs the game.

Newcastle will be without number one goalkeeper Nick Pope because of suspension, and number two goalkeeper Martin Dubravka is not allowed to play because he has played for Man Utd this season. Number three goalkeeper Loris Karius is likely to start, and Ten Hag thinks this is "definitely not an advantage for Newcastle". "They're going to have to deal with this. We're going to have to check to see if that's the problem."

Karius has not played a game in the past two years, and he also made two mistakes that led to a goal in the 2018 Champions League final, while playing for Liverpool. Another Newcastle option is goalkeeper Mark Gillespie - who is new to the third and fourth tiers in England.

If they win Newcastle, Man Utd will win the first title since 2017. If it is a draw, the two teams will play 30 minutes of extra time, and penalty shootout if necessary. Ten Hag thinks that Man Utd cannot be considered successful. "We're still playing in four arenas, but that's just the way to success," he said. "Success is the title."