Bruno Guimaraes told he should be in 'big trouble' for Newcastle United comments after Sunderland defeat
Bruno Guimaraes’ comments after Newcastle United’s defeat to Sunderland have been a big topic of conversation this week.
Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes may have landed himself in hot water for his comments after the Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland.
That’s according to former Newcastle captain Nicky Butt and ex-manager Sam Allardyce. Guimaraes labelled the Magpies’ 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light on Sunday as “embarrassing” and “a mess”.
After giving himself 24 hours to reflect, the Brazilian posted a statement on Instagram, where he offered his sincere apologies for the result. He then called for unity and said “there’s no time to blame anyone”.
Eddie Howe publicly disagrees with Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes
Guimaraes’ comments were put to Eddie Howe on Monday and his response came as a surprise to many after the United head coach publicly disagreed with his captain.
Howe said: “I think Bruno's comments, he was 90% right initially. I don't think we were a mess, I don't think the other parts of his original comments were wrong. But we weren't a mess, we were very well organised, we just didn't deliver the performance that we wanted to.
“I think Bruno's very emotional and that's part of his success, that's why he's such an outstanding player for us and a leader for us.
“The second statement he put across is 100% right and that's what we need. The mindset now is that we can't affect the past, we can only affect the future and we need to do that together.”
Bruno Guimaraes may have landed himself in hot water
While the majority of supporters believe Guimaraes was correct in his assessment, not everyone outside the football club agrees.
The 28-year-old’s comments have been a topic of conversation across other platforms and speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, former Toon skipper Butt and boss Allardyce have criticised Guimaraes.
Butt said: “I think Bruno, as the captain of the football club, has to be careful with what he’s saying. I watched the game and he wasn’t great either, he’s got to look at himself.
“To come out as the captain and say the standard is not right or the mentality is not right, it’s a big call that, because they’ve done really well of late, they’d had a blip, go into the changing rooms and have it out with your teammates as the captain, and if it happens again then maybe say something, but he’s not been playing that great himself.
“You can’t be coming out and saying that about your teammates when you’ve been just as bad.”
Allardyce added: “If you said that in our dressing rooms publicly, you’d be in big trouble. You’d be lucky somebody didn’t thump you. If you’re in the dressing room, you’d think, did you question my commitment? There would be big trouble.”
What Bruno Guimaraes said after the Sunderland defeat
Here’s what Guimaraes told reporters in the mixed zone after the game:
"Not just as a defeat, more the way we play. Disappointed, frustrated, lack of energy, don't put the things that we are able to do, cross the ball, pass the ball.
"We were like a mess in my point of view. Disappointed, angry. This one is a tough one to accept. It was something about the strategy. We worked on something on the weekend. It was something about the strategy.
"We had many opportunities to counter, but we missed the passes. We had many opportunities to counter, but it was something about the strategy. We definitely didn't shoot on the goal. We can't score if we don't shoot the ball, if we don't cross the ball.
"I think we were not there at all, so it was so frustrating for me. I think the two shots we got were from me, far away a little bit as well. But in a derby, we have to compete. We didn't compete. It was so frustrating."