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Eddie Howe believes Bruno Guimaraes showed signs of rust upon his return for Newcastle United – though he thinks the skipper is building his way back up to full fitness.
For the first time in around ten weeks, Guimaraes took to the field following a hamstring injury which was further compounded by a bout of mumps.
Who was Newcastle United’s biggest flop against Bournemouth and why? 😡
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
While Guimaraes played well for Newcastle against Bournemouth, he proved unable to prevent yet another collapse from Howe’s side, who are now in a full-blown crisis.
Having such a leader back in action, however, can quite literally only be a good thing.
Howe is certainly hopeful of that.
Rusty Guimaraes benefits from Bournemouth cameo
The Newcastle United manager was asked about the Brazilian by BBC Radio Tyne and Wear after the defeat to Bournemouth.
Howe did concede that Guimaraes did show signs of ring rust during the game, but hoped the run out will have done him some good.
“It was great to have him back,” he said.
“You could feel the supporters have missed him. We’ve missed him, the team’s missed him.
“There’s still a bit of rust in there for Bruno, he’s been out for a long time. Big pitch and spaces will be what he needs now. So yeah, I think he’ll be better for that game.”
All of that is to be expected, of course.
All opinions welcome but I would LOVE to know how you think Howe can turn this around….
It’s the same thing every week!
Credit: Getty Images/Stu Forster Guimaraes stats for Newcastle United against Bournemouth
Newcastle are a better team when Guimaraes plays for them, there’s little doubt about that.
The midfielder has had a transformative impact on the team since he arrived from Lyon almost half a decade ago now.
It was therefore of little surprise that Newcastle’s performance levels improved when Guimaraes came on for Jacob Ramsey just after the hour mark.
Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images
According to FotMob data, Guimaraes created one chance, won five of his 11 attempted ground duels and completed one of his attempted dribbles.
Defensively, he made two recoveries and two tackles.
If more players had the energy and drive that Guimaraes did, Newcastle would be much higher up the Premier League table.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Guimaraes amid so much transfer speculation. Right now, however, Newcastle need him back to his best.
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