Former Leeds United star's replacement makes 'difficult' claim after Newcastle United meeting

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Yokohama F. Marinos interim manager John Hutchinson praised ‘top-level’ Newcastle United after his side’s 2-0 win at the Japan National Stadium.

Brazilian Elber opened the scoring in the 34th minute for Yokohama before Jun Amano made it 2-0 shortly after half-time.

Hutchison is interim manager at Yokohama following former Leeds United and Liverpool winger Harry Kewell’s sacking last month. The J-League side are midway through their competitive campaign and caused Eddie Howe’s side plenty of problems on Saturday evening in Tokyo.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yokohama return to J-League action against bottom club Consadole Sapporo on Wednesday while Newcastle’s competitive campaign is still a fortnight away as they prepare for Southampton at St James’ Park on August 17 (3pm kick-off).

Reflecting on the friendly match in Japan, Hutchinson believed Newcastle were a threat at stages in the game but admits the heat and humidity restricted Eddie Howe’s side.

“Winning builds confidence in the team and we spoke before the game mainly about us and what we want to do and who we want to become as a team,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“The main goal tonight was to create competition inside the team because that is the only way for us to push forward, and tonight there were some excellent performances and some tough decisions have to be made for the Sapporo game [on Wednesday].

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Really happy to have played a top-level team like Newcastle. They’re in the middle of pre-season, the humidity and heat was difficult for them. You could see their class at times when they played through us.

“Overall very happy, not the result but very happy to have competition with players competing against each other inside the team.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1849
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice