Eddie Howe took a swipe at Manchester United and Ruben Amorim after his Newcastle United side was defeated on Boxing Day.
A single goal from Patrick Dorgu was enough for Manchester United to beat Newcastle 1-0 and climb up to fifth in the Premier League table.
Ruben Amorim has refused to use injuries as an excuse all week, and the players who were available at Old Trafford showed incredible fighting spirit, including a warrior performance from Lisandro Martinez who stepped up as captain.
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In the second half, Amorim made bold changes and showed complete trust in United’s youth. The Red Devils were put under pressure by Newcastle, but a resilient second-half performance secured an important three points.
Eddie Howe made time-wasting dig at Man United
Amorim can be very pleased with what he saw from his United squad at Old Trafford, especially towards the end of the match when a very inexperienced defence helped to keep the second clean sheet of the season.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was much more frustrated and he even aimed a dig at United for wasting time.
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Speaking on Sky Sports after the full-time whistle, Howe said: “We wanted the ball in play more. They managed the game well, but I think they were allowed to.”
Ironically, back in 2023 the ‘We Are Newcastle United’ documentary revealed that Eddie Howe used Erik ten Hag’s comments about time-wasting as motivation during a half-time team talk.
As per the Daily Mail, Howe read out Ten Hag’s comments: “They have the lowest ball in play time in the league and are quite successful at slowing the game down. It’s an annoying team to play against.”
Aaron Ramsdale moment exposes Eddie Howe hypocrisy
Howe was clearly upset at some of United’s game management in the second half, but his comments come across as hypocritical when you think back at the first half.
Just 20 minutes into the game, United were dominating at home and Howe seemed to be stunned by Amorim’s game plan.
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Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale just happened to suffer a cramp and it allowed time for Howe to tweak his tactics.
On Sky Sports commentary, Neville suggested that Howe wanted his players to buy some time to make changes: “The turning point of the game was when Ramsdale went down and Newcastle changed.
“Clever from Eddie Howe…”
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