Alan Shearer picks one Newcastle United star for his Premier League Team of the Week
Newcastle United didn't set the world alight with their collective performance during the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but there were some top-class individual performances in there.
There's still some work to be done to get this Newcastle side running like a well-oiled machine, but for now, the brilliance of a few individuals is making up for that lack of cohesion.
Nick Pope is back to his shot-stopping best. His kicking still gives us heart palpitations, but as long as he's keeping clean sheets, we can live with it.
In front of him are Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman, who have no limit as to how good a partnership that can be. Up top, we've got Nick Woltemade, who is fast-becoming a Geordie favourite thanks to his goals and his link-up play with those around him.
Bruno Guimaraes made it into Alan Shearer's Team of the Week
We already know about the dynamism in the middle of the park with Joelinton there to disrupt the opposition while Sandro Tonali adds an air of class with everything he does, but it was Bruno Guimaraes who impressed Alan Shearer enough this weekend to land a place in his Premier League Team of the Week.
Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United)
"A true captain's performance. Opened the scoring against Nottingham Forest and then won the penalty that sealed the win."
Bruno took the game by the scruff of the neck on Sunday when it was starting to look like there was no way past Matz Sels.
Who was your Player of the Match against Nottingham Forest?
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Nick Pope1%
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Kieran Trippier2%
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Sven Botman1%
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Malick Thiaw10%
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Dan Burn0%
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Bruno Guimaraes48%
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Sandro Tonali29%
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Joelinton1%
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Anthony Elanga0%
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Anthony Gordon0%
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Nick Woltemade6%
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Harvey Barnes0%
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Jacob Murphy1%
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Will Osula0%
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Lewis Miley0%
Sandro Tonali is so consistently good that he gets overlooked
For our money, Sandro Tonali deserved a place in that team, too, and if there was only room for one Newcastle player in Shearer's team, while we understand why he would pick Bruno, it was Tonali for us; he just never seems to put a foot wrong, and even when he does, he makes up for it.
I guess scoring the goal and winning the penalty that got Newcastle the much-needed win could give Bruno the edge in most people's eyes, though. We're not mad at seeing Bruno in Shearer's team.
To be honest, Matz Sels could feel aggrieved to not have been picked by Shearer after his heroics at St James' Park. There was nothing the Belgian could have done about the two goals, and some of the saves he made to keep Newcastle at bay before then were unbelievable.
