Ian Wright has delivered a very interesting verdict on Bruno Guimaraes’ performance against Chelsea

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Newcastle United were really poor all over the pitch against Chelsea on Monday night, with even Bruno Guimaraes struggling.

That is the view of Ian Wright, who has expressed his disappointment over the 26-year-old’s display at Stamford Bridge.

Bruno Guimaraes was well below his usual standard, which pretty much epitomised the entire Toon performance. It was unrecognisable to last week when Eddie Howe out-thought Gary O’Neil to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0.

On Monday, Newcastle played into Chelsea’s hands. Time and time again this season, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled against a low block. Yet the Magpies made no real attempt to soak up pressure and hit Chelsea on the break.

It culminated in a 3-2 defeat for Newcastle in the capital, leaving their European ambitions hanging by a thread.

There were plenty of poor performances in black and white, and Ian Wright thinks one of them came from Bruno.

Ian Wright not impressed with Bruno Guimaraes against Chelsea

Wright appeared on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football coverage, and gave his thoughts on Bruno’s performance.

“I thought Guimaraes was very poor,” he said.

“Couldn’t get himself away from the fact Conor Gallagher was in an around him, not enough movement from him.

“Almiron had to get taken off, it was unfortunate for Gordon, but in the main – Livramento tried – but other than that a very poor performance.”

Bruno one of multiple Newcastle players to struggle on Monday night

When you look back at how Bruno played, it clearly was not his finest night. His crowning moment was his assist for Alexander Isak, but he was nowhere near his influential best.

The Brazilian was nowhere near being Newcastle’s worst player, but so much more was expected from a player of his calibre. In the end, Howe decided to take him off and preserve him for the final 10 minutes, which was a sensible call.

The only saving grace from Bruno’s performance is that he once again avoided a yellow card. He is one booking away from a two-game suspension, and is showing real discipline at the moment.

But he did not look like the talisman he has so often been for Newcastle. It was an underwhelming display, but there were plenty others in black and white who struggled much more – the likes of Sven Botman, Sean Longstaff and Martin Dubravka, for example.