Newcastle United journalist John Gibson has given his thoughts on Bruno Guimarães not being able to get into the team.
Indeed, after suffering a problem on the injury front with Kieran Trippier, it’s been claimed that there could be a problem with Guimaraes at Newcastle if Eddie Howe can’t factor him into his starting plans.
Having been brought in by Newcastle late in the transfer window, the first few weeks haven’t exactly gone swimmingly for the Brazilian. International duty meant that he wasn’t able to get settled into the club straight away, and so far he’s been restricted to making cameo appearances in the Premier League.
So it hasn’t been the most auspicious start for someone they reportedly paid £40m for, but given that they have won both games since he’s been with them, it’s not as if they’ve desperately needed him.
It was an issue that was discussed on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, where Gibson felt that if the team kept winning without him, he was fine with the 24-year-old sitting on the bench for the rest of the season – but did note that it could well be something that Howe would have to look into moving forward.
“If winning means not changing the side, Bruno can sit there for the rest of the season, I think that’s right because we’re getting the results. But it is a situation that Howe’s going to have to look at long-term because Bruno naturally is going to want to start, and then there’s a problem.”
TIF Thoughts on John Gibson’s comments about Bruno Guimarães at Newcastle United…
Will PIF bring silverware to Newcastle?
Yes!
No!
Gibson is right on both fronts here. The phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ does seem to apply in Newcastle’s case, and if they keep managing to win without Guimaraes in the side, then whilst they are fighting relegation and needing every point that they can, it makes sense to stick to a winning formula.
But at the same time, you don’t spend £40m on someone to put them on the bench for half a season, and you would imagine Guimarães will be wanting minutes, especially to keep his place in the Brazil side ahead of the World Cup later this year.
So it is a fine balance that needs to be struck by Howe, and one that hopefully he’ll be able to find in order to both keep his players happy and the points coming through for the team.
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