Eddie Howe speaks about toll international breaks have on players as Brazilian duo suffer nightmare travel to Asia
Newcastle United's Brazilian duo, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton, were called up to represent their country by new boss Carlo Ancelotti during this international break.
Having already qualified for the World Cup, Ancelotti looks to be shaking things up to assess new players, giving Joelinton a chance to impress first-hand; however, the midfield beast may not be firing on all cylinders after he and Bruno Guimaraes suffered a travel nightmare.
The Newcastle midfielders' plane from Amsterdam to Seoul was forced to return to the Netherlands after being in the air for six hours, after it was discovered there was a problem with one of the plane's windows.
Bruno eventually posted on Social Media that they had got going again 30 hours later than scheduled.
Eddie Howe was already unamused by the Brazilians' travel plans
Before all of this drama, Eddie Howe had already spoken about the toll all this travel can take on players, and flying halfway around the world for an international friendly is less than ideal at the best of times, so we'd love to hear what Howe's thoughts are after this, with the Newcastle gaffer speaking about how the travel can affect players. (via The Shields Gazette)
“I'm glad I'm not going with him. We had a quick chat at the end of the game. I mean, what those players do that play for their countries, that have to travel those kind of distances - I know it sounds easy - you're going to play for your country, you're going to fly halfway across the world, it's a privilege, and don’t get me wrong, the players know that. But it is hard and it's hard on their brains, their bodies.
“But what I love about those two individual players [Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton] is that when they come back to us after those journeys, they come back with such a passion to play for the club again.
“They're pleased to be with their teammates, and they're really focused on what we need to do. They're not reflecting back on what they've just done. Incredible people, and I hope they return safely and in the condition that they've left.”
Wrap our lads in cotton wool, Carlo!
Now, having a 30-hour delay, Bruno and Joelinton won't have the same amount of time to prepare for their upcoming matches against South Korea and Japan and as a result could be more susceptible to injury.
We're sure that neither player is going to kick up a fuss and refuse to play, so we just hope that Carlo Ancelotti takes everything into account before sending our boys out there.
The last thing we need now is an injury to any of our main trio of midfielders.
