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Alan Shearer eulogised Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali following Newcastle United’s recent upturn in form.
Midfield proved a problem area for Eddie Howe earlier this season. Toon fans had high expectations of Tonali after waiting patiently throughout his 10-month ban.
The £55million man returned to action against Nottingham Forest in August but found himself struggling for a regular run. Howe fielded Tonali predominantly as a right-sided No.8, with Sean Longstaff fighting for the same spot.
But the Italian has been deployed as a holding midfielder in recent weeks - a change that coincides with Newcastle’s positive run of form. Guimaraes, who has spent most of his time at St James’ Park in front of the back four, is now being given licence to get forward.
As a result, the Magpies look more balanced in the engine room and fans are raving about Tonali’s composed style of play. Speaking to BBC Sport, Toon icon Shearer purred over the £90million pair - echoing comments from Newcastle supporters.
“In recent games, Eddie Howe has put Sandro Tonali in the No.6 role and moved Bruno Guimaraes a little bit further forward to give him a little bit more freedom to get into forward positions,” he said. “It certainly helped both of the players and, more importantly, it helped the team.
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“Tonali will sit there in midfield, he is very good at that and I think he feels very important in that role. He is certainly a better player for it because he has the skills to do that. A lot of the time, when he gets the ball, within one or two touches he likes and wants to play the ball forward. So for the forward players, that is much better.
“He has to do his work defensively as well and he has certainly done that in recent games. The understanding of both Tonali and Guimaraes in their roles was absolutely superb. Sometimes it was Guimaraes getting on the ball and him passing it forward, other times it was Tonali.
“Bruno was very clever in what he had to do in that role. He feels part of it as well because that role is certainly suiting him.”
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