I thought that it was glaringly obvious in the match against Everton that we were missing the creativity of Bruno Guimaraes.
Even during two magnificent displays against Manchester United and Barcelona (not to mention the debacle against Manchester City!), I felt that our inspirational captain would have made a difference.
Bruno Guimaraes is so often our inspiration, providing those clever passes through the lines (imagine him licking his lips at the sight of Barca’s high line) and relieving pressure by retaining possession in midfield and winning free kick after free kick. But we are having to cope without him at the moment.
It was rather ironic that as I was putting the finishing touches to an article last month for The Mag about hamstring injuries (‘Was Anthony Gordon hamming it up?’) that Bruno Guimaraes dramatically collapsed to the turf with a rather obvious “hammy” of his own. This one, though, suffered towards the end of the vital away win at Spurs, looked instantly more serious than AG’s.
In my previous article, I detailed the various symptoms and recovery times associated with each grade of hamstring injury – moving from the least serious, Grade 1, to the most serious at Grade 3. To my very recently self-taught eye, Bruno’s injury seemed to be at least Grade 2. This was based on the fact that he immediately appeared unable to continue, was obviously in severe pain but was able to walk afterwards, although with some difficulty.
The news currently coming out of Brazil is that the tear is actually at Grade 3 but not of the worst kind, so he has, thankfully, avoided surgery. What I intend to focus on in this article is why the injury occurred and was so serious in his case (compared to Anthony Gordon’s) and what the treatment regime is likely to be – plus when we can expect to see our talisman back in action.
In the Carabao Cup semi final, second leg, Anthony Gordon suffered a mild hamstring strain and subsequently missed one match. Bruno is expected to be out for up to two months. Why the difference?
The obvious, rather simplistic reply is that his was a more severe injury. The reason, though, is that – unlike Anthony Gordon – he didn’t act immediately upon receiving the early warning that something was going wrong. He did feel something slightly earlier in the game and indicated to the bench that he had a problem. However, as Eddie Howe and his staff began to react to this, he quickly indicated that he was OK and could continue. He then seemed to confirm this during a short break in play. Minutes later, he broke down and had to leave the field.
It seems pretty obvious to me that Bruno, desperate as always to stay on the pitch and help us to see out an important win, felt some pain and pushed himself on to “battle through it”. Maybe he considered it just a bit of cramp that he could tolerate. Perhaps if he’d gone down during the initial incident and the physio had come on to assess and advise him – as happened with Anthony Gordon – he could well have recovered after a short break of one or two games.
Following any setback suffered by the team or individual players, some people seem determined to apportion blame. In Anthony Gordon’s case, as my previous article highlighted, he was actually accused of baling out of the fight and pretending to be injured! In Bruno’s case, the whipping boys for some (thankfully, only a few) posters on The Mag comments section at least, were Eddie Howe and his staff. What were they thinking of, letting Bruno stay on the pitch when he was clearly injured? Surely, it was gross negligence!
For me, this is an issue around trust. Bruno is an experienced player, a Brazilian international and our captain – a role he considers a great honour and which he obviously takes very seriously. When he says he’s OK to continue then the manager has to respect that judgement.
He is always desperate to stay on the pitch to help the team. Mr Reliable only missed one league game during the previous two seasons. However, sometimes discretion really is the better part of valour. And in Bruno’s case, to continue with the old adages, once bitten should be twice shy. He has previous!
When he badly twisted his ankle in 2023 he tried to continue in that match and possibly exacerbated the condition by doing so and missed three matches during a 20 day absence. He also is no stranger to hamstring problems having suffered a relatively mild injury in the previous year that saw him miss three games then.
Having suffered a “hammy” before and having seen how delaying rest and treatment can make matters worse, you would have thought he would be more cautious as a result. However, Bruno is clearly a player who isn’t habitually injured and displays the quality that I remember Anthony Gordon advocating in his extended interview with Gary Neville, “Availability is the best ability”. Hence his determination to battle on through the pain – probably dismissing it as a touch of cramp.
There are three main causes of hamstring injuries: muscle strains, which are due to overloading and often down to not warming up; just doing too much leading to lactic acid build up; dehydration causing mineral deficiency which can be avoided to some extent by drinking electrolytes during the game.
The immediate response, to coin an old Geordie adage, is to “give it RICE – Rest, Ice, Constriction, Elevation. Most readers of The Mag will be familiar with this protocol. For a Grade 3 tear, though, this is not enough.
Bruno has travelled to Brazil and according to a club statement continues his injury treatment at Cidade do Galo. Under the supervision of Dr. Rodrigo. No doubt his treatment will revolve around working with physiotherapists on rehabilitation and exercise therapy, including:
Progressive Stretching and Strengthening: Starting with gentle range-of-motion and isometric exercises, progressing to isotonic and isokinetic strengthening.
Emphasis on Eccentric Training: Eccentric exercises involve lengthening the muscles, stretching them under careful control, and are really effective in restoring things to working order and reducing the risk of it happening again.
Functional Progression: Gradual return to sport-specific movements – again under the strict supervision of the physios and supervising surgeon. The physiotherapist will ensure that muscle imbalances are addressed and that return to full activity is handled safely.
Considering that Bruno’s problem is not a case of chronic hamstring deterioration or an ongoing condition such as tendinopathy, then he probably will not have been subjected to more extreme treatment such as shock wave therapy or peri-tendinous injections. Thankfully, he seems to have avoided the most extreme treatment of surgical intervention.
Judging by the recent photos of Bruno and his family and friends smiling and enjoying a spot of river fishing, things are going well and there is no reason to question Eddie Howe’s assessment when asked about Bruno’s absence, “He will be out until around the next international break.”
According to ESPN Brasil, Bruno met with Carlo Ancelotti and other Brazil staff to outline the current action plan surrounding his return from injury. Apparently, he had been using the facilities at Atletico Mineiro and, as part of his ongoing plan to make himself available to play as soon as possible, is now using Botafogo’s facilities for the second phase of his treatment and recovery. He is staying in Brazil in an effort to accelerate his recovery and is definitely aiming for an early April return.
Unfortunately, he will certainly miss the league games against Chelsea and Sunderland and the return fixture at Barcelona. Crystal Palace on the 11th April is likely to be his earliest return date.
The boys have taken us on a rollercoaster ride in his absence but, for me, there have been more peaks than troughs, with perhaps the most positive side effects of his absence being the continuing emergence of Jacob Ramsey and, to a lesser extent Joe Willock, as very able deputies.
Absolutely no offence intended. They’ve been good but they’re not Bruno Guimaraes!