Journalist Henry Burt has called out Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes for his display during the club’s most recent game.
The Magpies were in Premier League action for the final time before the World Cup break, and treated the St James’ Park faithful to 1-0 victory that will see them spend Christmas in third place.
There wasn’t much to talk about during the first hour of their clash against Chelsea, but Joe Willock broke the deadlock in the 67th minute after being set up well by Miguel Almiron for what turned out to be the winning goal.
Newcastle then had to battle hard for the remainder of the game, but managed to cling onto their lead and pick up a huge three points.
Despite the win, not all Magpies players impressed on the day, and this was noted by Burt in his player ratings for 90min, as he handed Guimaraes a rather average 6/10 for his efforts.
He wrote: “This was not vintage Bruno by any means, but we were still treated to a few silky touches by the Brazilian.”
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TIF Thoughts on Bruno Guimaraes and Newcastle United…
To be fair to the Brazilian, he usually is so impressive, that when his level drops a bit, it can feel rather disappointing. For instance, his average WhoScored player rating in the league this term is 7.34.
However, SofaScore’s stats do seem to back up Burt’s evaluation. He picked up a lowly ranking of 6.2, lost the ball 18 times, made four fouls and even had an error leading to a shot on goal.
On that basis, it’s not hard to see why some may feel as though he didn’t exactly put in a ‘vintage’ performance. Even so, Newcastle still managed to get the win and that’s what mattered most.
And Guimaraes would have no doubt been delighted to get through seemingly unscathed, with a trip to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup next up for the Brazilian.