Ally McCoist says 26-year-old Newcastle man wasn’t his usual self against Aston Villa

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Ally McCoist has claimed that one Newcastle United player wasn’t at his very best despite their dominant victory over a tough Aston Villa side.

Newcastle put their away form woes behind them with what was brilliant 3-1 win against the best home team in the Premier League.

However, McCoist was keen to point out on commentary for TNT Sports that Bruno Guimaraes had a pretty quiet evening in midfield despite Newcastle’s victory.

McCoist thought Newcastle’s star man wasn’t at his best

There’s been times in the last two years where Bruno has carried Newcastle through games with his brilliant quality on the ball and his determination to drag the team forwards.

However, his performance tonight wasn’t exactly one of his best individual games despite the overall team display which was very effective in cancelling out Villa’s best players and the way they typically like to play.

It’s not something that will worry Eddie Howe who has full faith in the Brazilian international who will no doubt want to be back to his very best as soon as possible with another big Premier League game at the weekend.

But it was certainly something that McCoist picked up on last night as the commentator suggested that the 26-year-old had been effective but going about his business rather quietly.

On commentary, McCoist said: “He’s been quieter tonight. We usually see him spraying those passes about but he’s had a quite effective evening.”

Newcastle still on the verge of midfield crisis

The midfield was an area in which Newcastle did exceptionally well last night, but the injury to Alexander Isak is just a reminder that things can turn very quickly for this team.

Currently, Newcastle have just three recognised central midfielders fit and available with Bruno still one yellow card away from a two game ban and that will be something just in the back of Howe’s mind.

It’s a problem that they’ve wanted to solve for the last few months following Sandro Tonali’s suspension but the funds just aren’t there for any reinforcements an it now looks like Newcastle will end January with almost the same squad they came into it with.