Man United boss Erik ten Hag calls Newcastle ‘annoying’ ahead of Carabao Cup final

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has labelled Newcastle United ‘annoying’ ahead of the Carabao Cup final.

On Sunday, United can end their six-year wait for a trophy when they take on Newcastle at Wembley in the first final of the season.

Newcastle meanwhile are looking to end their 54-year trophy drought, with their last piece of major silverware coming in 1955.

Ahead of the final, Red Devils boss Ten Hag has called Eddie Howe’s side annoying whilst speaking about their gamesmanship.

Ten Hag said: “It's a great team with a clear philosophy about how they want to play the game.

“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 we play our game and focus on our game.”

The Dutchman continued: “For instance, so if you see from the FA, the referees want to play an effective time. They 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 and we are also then dependent on the refereeing as well.

“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 we have to find our way and found out the moments we can strike.”

Alamy

Ten Hag also revealed to reporters that he is unsure whether star man Marcus Rashford will be fit for the Wembley showpiece.

He said: “I don’t know.

“The players now are coming in, we have to do investigations, medical of course, we did straight after the game, but most of the time you have to wait for a 100 per cent diagnosis.

“So let’s do the medical, the work, we have to wait.”