Bruno Guimaraes
Bruno Guimaraes
Social media after a heavy away defeat is usually where the dressing room speaks first. The quotes are short, the pictures are of a huddle, and the message is aimed at supporters who have just watched a title defence take its first dent.
International breaks make those posts land harder. Players disappear for three weeks, the next league game sits on the other side of friendlies, and nobody can put the result right on a Tuesday night.
That is why the wording matters. A midfielder who has just been criticised for his display does not get to hide behind a shrug.
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Bruno Guimaraes has addressed Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Instagram, posting a picture of the team huddle. “Definitely not the way we wanted to finish before the international break. We know this isn’t the level we should be at when wearing this shirt,” he said.
“We’ll work even harder when we’re back to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Thank you for your support. Gunners.”
The Brazil international had a difficult afternoon on the south coast. Signed from Newcastle for £75million in the summer, he kept his place after scoring at Sunderland and was replaced around the hour. Paul Merson later said he was “a million miles off it”.
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Gabriel Magalhaes posted as well, sharing a club image and adding his own line. “One setback doesn’t define us. We know who we are,” he wrote.
“We know what we’re fighting for. We’ll be back. Stronger. Hungrier. Together.”
Both players have been called up by Carlo Ancelotti for Brazil’s friendlies against Australia. They will meet up with the national squad after a week in which Arsenal’s 100 per cent start ended and William Saliba’s absence was felt at the back.
The defeat was Arsenal’s first of the season in all competitions. Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas scored before half-time and Chema Andrés headed the third. Mikel Arteta said the Rice–Guimaraes midfield pairing, which had worked at Sunderland, “didn’t work so well” at the Amex.
The next Premier League fixture is Leeds at home on 10 October. Until then the public word from two of the Brazilians in the squad is that Saturday was below the standard the shirt demands, and that the response has to wait until they are back together.
For a champions side that had won six in a row since the Community Shield, that is the least the support will expect to hear. The work, as Guimaraes put it, starts when the international break is over.
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