Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel says he would waste time “on purpose” when he came up against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
Time-wasting and the ‘dark arts’ of football have been hotly debated this week following the feisty 2-2 draw between title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.
Discussing the topic on the Planet Premier League podcast, Friedel recalled how he used these tactics against one manager in particular.
“A long time ago, Sir Alex Ferguson used to get so annoyed,” said Friedel, who faced the Red Devils 43 times in his career.
“I was playing for Liverpool at the time when Michael Owen did that two-footed challenge against [Peter] Schmeichel and got sent off and we were drawing in the game.
“I wasted so much time and we ended up drawing 1-1, but that was back in 1998. So, every other time I returned to Old Trafford, Sir Alex had in his head, no matter what team I was playing for, what the game was, what the score was, I was wasting time.
“So then just on purpose to wind the fans up, I did just [waste time] when I didn’t even need to.”
Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds