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da brdice： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Steve Bruce has explained the confusion surrounding Jetro Willems’ introduction against Arsenal, but his latest excuse is littered with inaccuracies and completely contradicts his earlier comments.
What’s he said?
Willems made his debut in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend, coming on for Jonjo Shelvey with the score at 0-0.
The Magpies’ shape was all over the place with the Dutchman in the middle, and he was quickly moved to his natural left-back role, where he made a costly mistake in the build-up to the Gunners’ lone goal.
Steve Bruce had originally said: “It was just a lack of communication with him. I wanted to put Matt Ritchie inside, and play him in his position. He only played there for two minutes, really, until we got the information down about where we wanted him to play.”
However, the manager has now said: “I put Jetro on in midfield where he played for Frankfurt. Then I thought it was unfair (on his debut), and I switched him quickly.
“We made a mistake.”
Are you sure about that Steve?
So, which one is it then? Was it simply a miscommunication that saw Willems replace Shelvey and throw the entire team out of sync, or was it a tactical mistake that was quickly rectified?
Either way, the confusion surrounding the 25 year-old’s first minutes on the hallowed St. James’ Park turf allowed the Gunners to take the lead, and the manager is to blame.
Even worse, his latest reasoning doesn’t even hold true, as he claims he simply wanted to put Willems where he played for Eintracht Frankfurt.
Last season, the Holland international started just three Bundesliga games in central or defensive midfield, according to Whoscored (position filter found under “detailed”), earning an average match rating of 6.5 in those games.
Former ESPN Newcastle correspondent Marc Duffy claims that number is even lower, tweeting that the Dutchman only started two league games at centre-mid, one of which he was subbed off after just 35 minutes with his side down 6-1.
Not only has Bruce completely contradicted his previous comments, the Magpies boss doesn’t appear to know a whole lot about his new signing, which is very worrying indeed.
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