Newcastle United’s struggles amidst the absence of talismanic captain Bruno Guimaraes haven’t exactly been left undocumented.
In fact, every media outlet and their mother has been, understandably, shouting from the rooftops about the underwhelming record without the Brazilian in the side.
Since Bruno joined the club in the 21/22 season, Newcastle have only won three games without him, drawing 14 and losing a whopping 17 in that time.
It is a set of statistics that makes for dreary reading for Newcastle fans, as well as posing a rather concerning issue for the club as a whole.
In simple terms, Eddie Howe’s side doesn’t know how to win games of football if Guimaraes isn’t leading them out.
And so, that begs the question. Despite his obvious exceptional quality, could the Magpies’ captain actually be hindering the team?
Always the bride, never the bridesmaid
Although the robust nature of the ever-present Guimaraes has been an unquestionable plus since his £40m post-takeover signing, we are beginning to see the flip side of that.
Because he has so commonly been a part of the starting XI, the Newcastle side has never really had to get used to what a system without his presence looks like.
Perhaps that is even more exacerbated this season, given that Newcastle have been poor throughout and were often saved by his heroics alone before his current hamstring problem.
With Bruno in the side, he has been the one making everything tick over the past few seasons.
There is no other player in the Newcastle side who has the mix of ability and mentality that allows the Brazilian to single-handedly drag Eddie Howe’s men through games.
The most potent example of exactly that is this season, with Bruno putting in what would have been by far his most productive in terms of output had he not got injured, in a campaign which has arguably seen Newcastle at their worst since his arrival.
The failings in his absence
If we take a look at the profile of the other midfielders at present, the problem begins to become more clear.
Sandro Tonali, in many ways, facilitates the way that Bruno plays due to his tireless work rate and essentially provides an anchor both in turnovers and also in the early stages of possession.
Joelinton, the third of the three which became so feared in the Premier League, is largely the man tasked with doing the dirty work. Not devoid of technical ability on occasion, but most commonly utilised for his tough tackling and high-energy box-to-box tendencies.
Joe Willock is largely a powerful ball carrier who, once again, brings bundles of energy to the middle of the park but doesn’t possess the calmness and creative potency to run the game from midfield.
And finally, Jacob Ramsey, who we will talk more about later, possesses a strong technical base but is more commonly known for his ball carrying and defensive discipline, largely complementing Tonali in rotation during recent games.
Now whilst Bruno isn’t the most athletic of midfielders, although he does work exceptionally hard, his technical ability, tempo control and creative mind make him the integral piece to the Newcastle puzzle.
Put him in the centre of Howe’s high-energy, intensity-driven system, and he becomes more of a symphony conductor than a midfielder – with his importance oozing from every phase of play.
But whilst he makes the team tick, he also causes a tactical rigidity that the Magpies seem unable to shake off.
Without him there, the intent in the build-up becomes less obvious; the absence of his passion and mentality leaves a big hole, and the X factor is missing.
The players are so used to him being the main man and playing in a system which looks to get the best out of the Brazilian, that they struggle to become as fluid as they need to be in his absence.
Bruno’s ability to play on the half turn and draw opposition players toward him to create space for others to advance into forward areas makes breaking down low blocks a much simpler task.
Something which the current cohort of starters has seen haunt them on a regular basis with the increasing number of sides coming to sit tight and counterattack.
Now that Bruno’s talismanic, metronomic nature has been removed, much more rotational build-up play is needed. But, as is obvious when watching the team, that has been a difficulty which has led to large periods of pressure but no clear chance creation during those scenarios.
Experiments have been attempted to find a solution, with technical nomads such as Nick Woltemade utilised in an attempt to fill the creative void left by Guimaraes, but none have really shone through as the golden solution.
That being said, there have been more encouraging signs of late that Newcastle may have finally found an alternative system.
The Solution?
The Manchester United win brought a midfield that we have rarely been able to see this season, mainly due to Joelinton’s injury coinciding with Bruno’s.
The game began with Big Joe, Sandro Tonali and Jacob Ramsey as a midfield three, who became Willock after he was sent off.
Now, as much as we didn’t get to see the initial three for any more than a half, there were a lot of encouraging signs.
Joelinton was excellent; he had clearly been given a greater role in possession and was most commonly the most advanced midfielder, trying to break lines when he got into those areas.
Alongside him, the two of Tonali and Ramsey, who have been building a solid partnership in recent weeks, provided the structure and ball retention that allowed for much more control than has previously been the case without their captain.
The rotational play between the three in many ways resembled a more well-rounded midfield than is the case with Guimaraes in the side.
It wasn’t a case of ‘this is the main man, and we have to play through him’ and in many ways gave Man United more things to be concerned with – leading to possibly the best team performance since Bruno’s injury.
And so, despite the struggles which have plagued the side in large part, there is an argument that this period without Guimaraes was actually needed.
There is, of course, always the possibility of losing the Brazilian, given how good he is, meaning that Newcastle needed to find a solution to his absence sooner rather than later.
Bruno is undoubtedly the sort of player that you have to build your team around when you have the privilege of having him. But for Newcastle, that had in many ways come at the expense of the overarching system and structure.
And whilst it has taken a while, it does feel as if Eddie Howe’s side are beginning to show what the reality of an XI without number 39 could look like.
