Newcastle United must solve the problem of Bruno Guimaraes' absence between now and the Carabao Cup final. The Brazilian is one game into a three-match suspension following his cup red card and the Magpies struggled to dominate West Ham's midfield as he watched on from the St James' Park stands on Saturday.
Former England international Jermain Defoe was one of many who noticed the lack of control by Newcastle during the 1-1 draw, highlighting this on Optus Sport. “It was electric and you’re going to get that playing there [at St James' Park],” Defoe said.
“The manager demands it and the place demands it and we’ve seen that all season. They get the first goal early on but they didn’t get a second and well done to West Ham for that but the second half in contrast to the first… they didn’t create anything. There was no control. That’s a thing that would worry me.”
