Eddie Howe has hit back at Liverpool over time wasting claims - and defended his coaching staff and played after an ugly touchline clash.
Newcastle lost at Anfield to a goal from Fabio Carvalho on 97 minutes and eight seconds, in a spiky game that had Jurgen Klopp’s side fighting for their lives. Klopp’s staff accused the United bench of deserving the late defeat and there was an angry flare up between the staff and subs.
Howe insists the match should have been ended before the 98th minute. Five minutes of injury time had been announced by the fourth official. The United head coach says the “narrative” around Newcastle has changed and they are now facing increased friction in games because they play aggressive attacking football.
Howe said: “There is a real feeling of us internally knowing we are against everybody else. That is healthy and I would embrace that. I haven't seen the pictures back of the two benches. Immediately, when the goal went in, I took myself somewhere else mentally. I don't know where I went, but somewhere dark! I always try to stay out of those flashpoints unless I feel I need to be there for my team and for my staff, but emotions were running high and that's the beauty of the Premier League. I had no issue with my bench protecting themselves as part of the game."
Asked about Liverpool's time wasting claims, he admitted the second half was disrupted by injuries and substitutions, but added: “Of course we refute it. If you look at just the pure physical side we had one day less recovery and then we are playing at Anfield. Our players gave everything physically. Matt Targett hadn’t played a lot of football leading up to the game and went down with cramp. Joelinton went down feeling his ribs and had cramp. It was down to the preparation time we had.
“ Liverpool had an extra day and of course the conditions of the game. It was a bit bitty in the second half with substitutions and there was certainly no gamesmanship on our side. That is their opinion. I’m not concerned by their opinion. We know what we were trying to do. We were trying to win the game. I’ve given reasons as to why there were stoppages. Nick Pope went down twice, the first time he was feeling a bit dizzy, the second time, I think he fell on his back. I’m not sure there’s a lot we can do there.”
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Newcastle will not launch a formal complaint about the extra stoppage time, Howe wanting to devote his time to more positive actions. He explained: “I thought the game should have ended with our last attack, looking at the time and having gone back through it. When Joelinton skips to the by-line and puts the cross in, we had that last attacking action. I think that’s time, the moment to end the game. He obviously didn’t.
“From the team’s perspective, we didn’t get that last couple of minutes right and when you consider how well we managed the rest of the game, it’s a huge frustration because the game was there to take something from it and we didn’t. We have to look at ourselves. I’m not going to sit here and blame the referee for the time played, that’s somebody else’s job to do. My job is to coach and manage the team and we needed to manage that last part better.
"I think it’s a fruitless exercise and we won’t get any benefit from it. I much prefer to put my energy into something positive and worthwhile, that will always be with my players. I’ve been there many times and I don’t think you get the reward for your efforts in that sense. We want to fight for every point, every tackle and do everything we can to win. If that's unpopular with people, then so be it, but we'll continue to hopefully play in the way that we all see that we should. We've got to fight for everything.”
