Comparing Manchester United, Newcastle as they battle for top four | Premier League | NBC Sports

COUPLE HOURS OR SO. GLAD YOU’RE WITH US TODAY. AHMED FAREED WITH TIM HOWARD AND DANNY HIGGINBOTHAM. THIS WILL BE A GOOD ONE. TWO GOOD GAMES AND IT DOES FEATURE TWO TEAMS THAT ARE VYING FOR A TOP FOUR SPOT THIS SEASON. NEWCASTLE CURRENTLY THERE IN THIRD. MANCHESTER UNITED IN FIFTH. JUST OUTSIDE. LET’S BEGIN THE DISCUSSION THERE. THEY’RE NOT PLAYING EACH OTHER TODAY. THEY DID THIS WEEKEND. WE SAW NEWCASTLE WAS JUST A TOUCH BETTER. SO OUTSIDE OF THAT RESULT AND WHERE WE SEE THEM IN THE TABLE RIGHT NOW, WHAT SEPARATES NEWCASTLE AND MANCHESTER UNITED? >> ONE WORD,

CONTROL. I THINK WHEN WE LOOK AT MANCHESTER UNITED, WHEN THEY ARE AT THEIR BEST THEY ARE CONTROLLING GAMES. IT’S SIMILAR TO HOW IT WAS LAST SEE SEWN. YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO GET FROM HIM. GOING TO GET FROM HIM. PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT MISSING ON THE DEFENSIVE STRUCTURE ON THE TEAM BECAUSE HE PLAYS A ROLE AND WHAT WE’RE SEEING IS BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT HAVING THAT CONTROL, OTHER TEAMS ARE GETTING CONTROL AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED. YOU’RE GETTING THE FULLBACKS AS YOU’RE GETTING THE FULLBACKS AS WE SAW AGAINST LIVERPOOL. RASHFORD, SANCHO, ANTONY ARE DOING MORE

TRACKING BACK. MANCHESTER UNITED ARE NEVER CONTROLLING THE GAME. BECK FORD HAS BEEN FINDING HIMSELF ISOLATED. NEWCASTLE HAS GREAT CONTROL IN GAMES. >>

TIM, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CLUBS RIGHT NOW? >> NEWCASTLE ARE GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. THERE’S AN IDENTITY ABOUT THEM. GETTING OUT OF WILLOCK AND SAINT-MAXIMIN AND JOELINTON. WE WERE WANTING MORE FROM THEM, HE’S GETTING MORE FROM THEM. IT’S CREATED A HEALTHY COMPETITION WITHIN THE SQUAD. A HEALTHY COMPETITION IS GOOD. HE’S ROTATING HIS PLAYERS AND THEY CONTINUE TO PUT IN GOOD PERFORMANCES. I WOULD IMAGINE

THE DRESSING ROOM, THE TRAINING GROUND, IT’S EASY TO GO IN, WORK HARD, KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO GET AN OPPORTUNITY, CHEER YOUR TEAMMATES ON. THE RESULT IS COMING. WITH MANCHESTER UNITED, I THINK THEY’RE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WITH TEN HAG. THEY WON THE LEAGUE CUP. I DO THINK THEY’LL FINISH IN THE TOP FOUR. ALL IN ALL A PRETTY GOOD SEASON. BUT WINLESS IN THE LAST THREE. THEY HAVEN’T SCORED IN THOSE GAMES. AFTER THE LAST GAME WHERE I THINK THEY WERE PLAYED OUT OF THE PARK BY NEWCASTLE, TEN HAG CAME OUT AFTER THE GAME AND SAID THEY WERE

MORE DETERMINED THAN US, THEY HAVE MORE PASSION THAN US. THEY HAVE MORE FIRE. THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE MEANT TO HEAR FROM A MANCHESTER UNITED CLUB, PARTICULARLY ONE THAT’S HAVING A GOOD SEASON. AS YOU MENTIONED, BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT CONTROLLING GAMES, A LOT OF THE WINGERS ARE HAVING TO TRACK BACK. I LOOK AT SANCHO, ANTONY, THEY’VE ALL BEEN MISFIRING. THEY’VE ALL BEEN MISFIRING. THEY’VE HAD POOR SEASONS. IT IS ABOUT CONTROL. >> I WANT TO GIVE CREDIT TO EDDIE HOWE BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW. AS YOU MENTIONED ERIK TEN HAG INHERPTED QUITE A BIT OF DRAMA

AT MANCHESTER UNITED. WHAT ABOUT THE JOB HE’S DONE? >> HE’S DONE A GOOD JOB. HE’LL WANT TO ADD PLAYERS TO IT. I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TEAM, YOU SEE WHAT HE’S TRYING TO DO. BUT IT SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT A PLAYER IS LIKE CASEMIRO WHEN HE’S TAKEN OUT OF THE TEAM. YOU CAN’T CONTROL THE GAME. HE’S SUCH A KEY PLAYER. ANY TOP TEAM, YOUR DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER, THEY ARE SO VALUABLE. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE TEAM, YOU LOOK AT NEWCASTLE. GUIMARAES, THEY PLAYED SIX GAMES WITHOUT HIM THIS SEASON. HADN’T

WON A SINGLE GAME. IT’S ALL ABOUT CONTROL. THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MOMENT WHEN YOU LOOK AT TEAMS AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED, CASEMIRO HAS THE ABILITY TO SLOW THE GAME DOWN, TO SPEED IT UP. AT THE MOMENT IT’S ERRATIC, ALL AT THE MOMENT IT’S ERRATIC, ALL OVER THE PLACE. >> I THINK PROBABLY MANCHESTER UNITED THOUGH I THINK NEWCASTLE IS HAVING THE BETTER SEASON. THERE ARE ONLY A FEW PLAYERS AWAY. MANCHESTER UNITED BOLSTERING, GETTING SOME DEPTH AND GETTING A