Bruno Guimaraes spotted raging at Newcastle United coaches in damning Sky Sports footage
Bruno Guimaraes couldn’t hide his anger following Arsenal’s winner against Newcastle United on Saturday.
Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium came courtesy of an early Eberechi Eze strike.
A well-taken finish came about following three corner routines from Arsenal in quick succession. The Magpies just about dealt with the first two before being undone at Arsenal’s third attempt.
It was a goal that left Newcastle and captain Bruno Guimaraes in particular frustrated with how the goal was allowed to come about given the warning signs were already there.
Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football broadcast saw former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher dissect Arsenal’s corner routines in the opening seven minutes of the match against Newcastle.
The plan of Mikel Arteta’s side was clear, but so was the confusion of the Newcastle players who turned to the bench for guidance that never materialised.
And Carragher admitted he had never seen Arsenal’s corner routine before in his life.
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Arsenal’s first corner
“This is the genius of [the corner], one, two, three, four, four players coming short,” Carragher said, assessing Arsenal’s first corner, which came to nothing. “Never seen that before in my life.
“Normally you'll have one, maybe two. And you can deal with that. But because four players come out, they’re almost not quite sure what to do here, the Newcastle players.
“So, [Joe] Willock ends up almost standing still when we run it on. And also, let's not just forget, there's a lot going on here. It's all about getting space on the edge of the box for [Eberechi] Eze and [Declan] Rice.That's what it's about.
“So, because Willock doesn't move, he cuts it out initially. And what Arsenal do, actually, in terms of getting the corners, this actual interplay here and the pace of the play here from Arsenal was actually the best piece of play we saw throughout the game. It was quick, it was fast.”
Arsenal’s second corner
On Arsenal’s second corner, Carragher added: “As they're walking back, keep an eye on Willock. We're going to highlight him now going back in his position as we saw earlier.
“Now, he's pointing. He's pointing to the bench. The reason we know he's pointing to the bench is because all 11 players for Newcastle are in the box. So, he knows there's a problem. ‘Should I be going with Odegaard? I've got Eze on the edge of the box. What do I do?’
“So, we see corner number two come in now. Same thing again, [Bruno] Guimaraes goes out because it's his job to go short. Again, they've got the four players out.
“Willock's caught in between, not quite sure what to do. Gets dragged a little bit closer than he did before because he's aware of the situation that's happening. Ball gets to Eze. As Eze gets the shot, Willock is not far away.
“He's got a free shot on his left foot. And again, this is the name of the game to get space on the edge of the box.
“But [Arsenal] can't quite drag him out because [Willock] is not quite sure what to do. Again, remonstrating with the bench. Guimaraes, ‘what should we do?’ They've never come up against that before. Who has? Four players going short for the corner.
“So, that's going on, as I said, between the players. They're trying to get messages from the bench onto the pitch.”
Arsenal’s third corner and goal
With just seven minutes on the clock, Arsenal won a third corner in quick succession and opted to go short once again.
“This is where the courage really kicks in for the Arsenal players to stick with doing it,” Carragher continued. “Again, Joe Willock, again, is looking at the bench for instruction. You've got to deal with it yourself on the pitch.
“He's not going to be able to hear what the people are saying from the touchline. Again, he doesn't know what to do. And that's where the really good thing from Arsenal is they've messed with Newcastle's heads.
“They're coming up with something that they haven't prepared for. And that was the genius from them, from [set-piece coach Nicolas] Jover and, as I said, the players. But, again, this was real courage to go again.
“This time, you see, Joe Willock, look, I'm going with Odegaard now. I'm going to change my decision. I'm going to go with him.I can't get the information from the bench. I'm not sure what to do. This time, I'm going with him.
“Players dragged out, coming short. But they've dragged Willock into a different position. You've now created the space. That's took three corners to get to. The reason it's taken three corners, because Newcastle can't work out what to do.
“But, basically, because Willock has moved ten yards further this way, the space is now created. So it goes in here, and now you've got a player with a free shot. Now, let's not forget, this is about the shot.”
The goal left Newcastle’s players, most notably captain Guimaraes, enraged that the same thing was allowed to happen three times in quick succession as he looked to the bench and Newcastle’s coaches for answers.
“Keep an eye on the Newcastle players,” Carragher said. “Bruno Guimaraes, again, shouting at the bench. They're not happy. But, sometimes you've got to take responsibility on the pitch.
“Bruno Guimaraes, tou've seen his frustration early on. He's shouting to one of the coaches. Yeah, look, three times this has happened.
“So, Bruno Guimaraes, now, coming across to Joe Willock. So, these are the two that were really involved. So, he's passing on the blame to Joe Willock.
“It was a difficult one for them because they've come up against something they haven't prepared for. You're not used to four players going short. What do you do? And they just didn't work out quick enough.
“This for me is not too much criticism of Newcastle, but massive credit for Arsenal players for the quality, but also the courage to keep taking short corners.”
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