Erik ten Hag said he “totally agreed” with Luke Shaw’s withering assessment of Manchester United’s performance as they lost to their top-four rivals Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The Dutchman’s left-back pulled no punches as he analysed a defeat which enabled Eddie Howe’s side to leapfrog Manchester United, rising to third in the Premier League. “I do think Newcastle are a very good side but I don’t think they won the game on quality today,” Shaw said.
“I think they won it on passion, desire, hunger and attitude: they clearly had higher motivation than we had and that can’t be possible. It’s not acceptable.”
Manchester United are now fourth in the table, level on points with Newcastle but with a significantly poorer goal difference. “I totally agree [with Shaw] and that was also my assessment,” said Ten Hag, who had to be separated from Howe by his assistant, Steve McClaren, as the two managers clashed in the second half. “They had more desire, determination and aggression. I was surprised we couldn’t match it.”
The Dutchman had earlier watched Joe Willock and Callum Wilson score the decisive goals on a day when Newcastle avenged their League Cup final defeat against the same opponents in February. “I don’t think we underestimated Newcastle but I do think we have to be much better,” he said. “I know this team has the quality to score goals but we didn’t create too many chances. Today was not a good one for us.”
Indeed a late, deflected, shot from Anthony Martial arguably represented the best visiting chance on what was very much Newcastle’s day.
“It was a really good performance and it’s a really good feeling,” said Howe, who singled out his excellent French winger, Allan Saint-Maximin, for special praise. “We had to be patient, we created a number of chances we didn’t take but I think we showed real belief today. Most aspects of the team [were] very strong, and I always felt something would drop for us.
“The cup final defeat wasn’t on our mind, today was just about winning this game. We were committed to a high‑energy game and, mentally, we were in a good place.
“Hopefully it builds our confidence level and gives us belief that we can beat anybody, home or away. It’s only a small step but we’ll enjoy tonight.”
Howe was suitably pleased to point out Newcastle did not need to run the clock down – something Ten Hag had predicted they would resort to in the preamble to kick-off. “I don’t know where this time‑wasting nonsense has come from, it’s not us,” Howe said. “We wanted the ball in play as much as possible.”
