Eddie Howe has responded to Bruno Guimaraes’ criticism of Newcastle United after Sunday’s loss to Sunderland.
The 28-year-old was extremely emotional after the Tyne-Wear derby, with Bruno Guimaraes saying Newcastle United were a mess at the Stadium of Light.
It was strong stuff from the skipper, who then issued another message to supporters on Monday. Bruno Guimaraes apologised to the Newcastle fans, insisting they would put things right in the reverse fixture against Sunderland in March.
Now Eddie Howe has publicly given his verdict on his captain’s comments, admitting there is one thing he does not agree with.
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Howe disagrees with Bruno 👀 whose side are you on?
Eddie Howe says Newcastle United were not a mess against Sunderland
Ahead of Newcastle United vs Fulham in the Carabao Cup, Eddie Howe was asked for his reaction to Bruno’s post-derby comments.
“He was 90% right initially,” he said via YouTube.
“I don’t think we were a mess, I don’t think the other parts of his original comments were wrong. But we weren’t a mess. We were very well organised, we just didn’t deliver the performance that we wanted to.
“Bruno’s very emotional and that’s part of his success. That’s why he’s such an outstanding player for us and a leader.
“It’s making sure our messaging is right to the outside world. The second statement he put across is 100% right and that’s what we need.
“Our mindset now is that we can’t affect the past, we can only affect the future and we need to do that together.”
Newcastle United were organised against Sunderland, but that was part of the problem
Newcastle United were awful against Sunderland, but I do think calling them a mess is wide of the mark.
Howe is right to disagree with Bruno. The Magpies were well organised off the ball, which is why Sunderland actually had fewer shots on target than Newcastle.
Newcastle were set up solidly and difficult to break down, but that bleeds into where they got their derby day approach wrong.
What was Eddie Howe’s BIGGEST mistake against Sunderland?
I've no idea why we were so deep, or why Elanga started!
There was a lack of fight from the Magpies. They appeared to sacrifice intensity and passion for a rigid shape, leading to a tame performance.
Offensively, Newcastle truly were terrible. Their efforts to create chances against Sunderland were embarrassing, with Newcastle’s front three heavily criticised.
As Howe says, all they can do now is affect the future. That does not take away the pain of Sunday, but now the players must do all they can to ease supporters’ pain. For many, that pain will not go away until March.
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