Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes didn’t hold back in his criticism of the Magpies’ display against Manchester City.

The Premier League holders flew into half-time with a 3-0 lead through an Omar Marmoush hat-trick, with City adding a fourth through James McAtee to cap off a dominant performance at the Etihad.

Newcastle did themselves no favours either in a flat display that lacked the tenacity we have come to expect from Eddie Howe’s side, something highlighted by Bruno’s post-match comments.

Bruno slates “lazy” Newcastle

Newcastle were “very lazy” and a “shambles” in their battering at the hands of Man City, according to skipper Bruno Guimaraes.

Speaking after our heavy defeat at the Etihad, he said: “Like I said to the boys in the changing room, I think our strength is working hard and when we don’t work hard, things like this is going to happen.

“We cannot think we are stars because we’ve got to a [Carabao Cup] final, we have to work hard every day. Like I said, our biggest strength is working hard but today we were very lazy. I think Manchester City played well but we were not good at all. We were so late in our pressing.

“We know how difficult it is to come here. I can accept a defeat but not in this way. Shambles. We made it too easy for them. Like I said, we were very late in our press and they played through us. They have a lot of good players, we gave them the space and time, and they enjoyed it.

“I am not happy at all. Like I said, I accept the defeat but not the way we lost today. We have to work hard, no matter the reason or game. Everything was wrong.”

A brutal but accurate summary of our performance on a Saturday afternoon, where we struggled to get out of first gear. A pivotal point in our season too, with massive games to come against Forest and Liverpool ahead of the Carabao Cup final.

Lack of effort not acceptable

Bruno’s comments should serve as a reminder of the importance of consistent effort, especially to avoid a return to the patchy form that marred the beginning months of our season before our nine-game winning run through the turn of the year.

We cannot afford to rest on our laurels after reaching a second Carabao Cup final in three years, and all signs prior to Saturday were that our approach was going to be different to that of 2023.

Hopefully the heavy loss to Manchester City was just a blip and a bad day in the office and will have served as a wake-up call for, and Bruno’s critique can motivate the squad to regroup and ensure the group get back on track.