If one Newcastle player was trying to take responsibility, battle and get us back into yesterday’s game at Sunderland, it was Bruno Guimaraes.
The Brazilian was still well below his brilliant best, but he didn’t hide and was the player to have our only two shots on target, summing up just how toothless our front three was all afternoon.
Speaking to the media after the match, Bruno did not hold back when discussing a frankly pathetic display, calling it a “mess” as he openly criticised our lack of consistency, questioned our mentality and lack of fight:
“I’m very angry, I’m so embarrassed and so frustrated. There was no crossing, no passing and no shooting. No nothing. It was a mess, in my opinion.
“We know we have a better team than them (Sunderland) but we didn’t play like the better team. It was a mess.
“The consistency isn’t there, the mentality isn’t there. We didn’t compete. The fans expect and deserve better.
“We accepted the way they play with the long balls. You need to compete in a derby and we didn’t.
“We only have one way we can go from here…and that’s winning in a few days.”
In quotes shared by ESPN, Bruno also discussed our inability to win duels, lack of quality on the ball and the justified criticism that will be coming the team’s way from supporters:
“It’s a tough one to accept for me. I’m very frustrated. One of those weeks we were very excited at the training ground, but we came here and didn’t perform the way we can perform.
“So frustrated and it makes me feel angry about our performance today. We were not there. No shooting the ball, no crossing the ball, no passing. We should have demanded the ball more.
“I think we just accepted the way they will play, long balls, win the duels. In derbies we have to win the duels. It’s not just as a defeat, more the way we play.
“The fans are right [to criticise] because it’s a tough one to accept. We had a great opportunity to go in front of them and we just missed it. For me it’s so frustrating.”
Bruno is right and summarises our fundamental issues well, but we need actions now, not words.
He is not the problem and I suspect it would’ve been a different story on Sunday if we had 11 players with his heart and quality on the pitch. However, something is clearly wrong and must change if we’re to turn around what is quickly turning into a nightmare season.
Fulham on Wednesday is huge, as is Saturday’s clash with Chelsea in the Premier League, but it will take more than just a few wins to make up for that unacceptable derby display.
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