It was never him. Those outside may have thought it was him, and he might himself have thought it was him. Alexander Isak was appreciated, inspired awe as he became close to the Premier League’s greatest striker, and was even loved, as the celebratory chant hailing their striker from Sweden – to the tune of Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme – rang around pubs and playgrounds alike.
Yet he was never quite The One. As St James’ Park cheered in response to the home lineup being read out over the speakers, nobody received the roar that Bruno Guimarães did. Even after a late, dramatic defeat to the Liverpool that have spent this summer as the Geordies’ bogeyman, threatening to take Isak away, that tumult will endure.
It is bittersweet now, as the supporters nurse a deep sense of betrayal over their absent forward, that Isak and Guimarães were dually complicit in the funniest, and most touching, of moments during March’s celebrations following the Carabao Cup win. Isak mischievously prodded Guimarães into singing the X-rated version of the Sandro Tonali song, even though the Brazilian had just promised Ant and Dec he wouldn’t swear, like a conniving elder brother pushing his unwitting younger sibling headfirst into trouble. Like family.
Now the roles are reversed, with Isak having taken his ball home and Guimarães wearing the long trousers. “There’s a lot of outside noise around this fixture,” wrote the Brazilian in his captain’s column in the match programme, “but it’s the noise our fans create tonight that’s going to make the difference.”
Guimarães has always, despite that giddy on-stage faux pas in the delirium of the cup winning celebrations, been a skilled communicator. Six weeks after he arrived in Europe, Covid-19 hit and the French season shut down. He spent the best part of the next four months indoors, away from friends and family, and emerged from it speaking excellent French, and as one of the team leaders as Lyon emerged from hibernation to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
When he left less than 18 months later to join an intended Newcastle revolution which was far from a sure thing Guimarães clicked with the city, and its fans, instantly. Kieran Trippier will always be rightfully recognised as the first name to take that leap of faith in early 2022 with Newcastle glued to the Premier League’s basement but Guimarães was the first young star with other options to arrive, to believe in what the Geordies dreamed of with the same almost blind optimism. He left a strong side to join a struggling team, talking of the future and of the Champions League while the ink was still wet on his contract.
On nights like these Guimarães tends to be different, less inspired by the atmosphere but unleashed, the embodiment of Eddie Howe’s famous phrase “intensity is our identity”. His getting pumped up started in those programme notes, which contained a thinly veiled shot at Isak. “For me, representing Newcastle United and our supporters makes me as proud as it did on my first day here,” he continued. “Both of my children are Geordies and it’s a privilege to be captain of this club and to wear the black and white shirt.”
Yet this was almost a tentative Guimarães at the start, as Tonali sped around into challenges like a de facto Guimarães early on, like the real thing was stopping himself from being overexcited by the occasion. Despite being absolutely crunched by Ryan Gravenberch in the first 10 minutes he kept his counsel, perhaps to his and his team’s detriment. After a spell of home pressure ratcheting up an already bubbling atmosphere – which might have led to tangible reward with a centre-forward of renown – Gravenberch’s against-the-tide opener came from a shot taken early with Guimarães electing to jockey rather than challenge, with the Dutch midfielder’s strike sliding past Nick Pope.
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Perhaps Anthony Gordon’s rush of blood to the head underlined the wisdom of this usually most effervescent of characters keeping his powder dry. For later, it was Guimarães that brought Newcastle back into it, heading in to halve a 2-0 deficit when it was hard to see where a goal might come from, when even the crowd had dampened and stopped believing. The goal didn’t just wake St James’ – it woke Bruno too. As he piled a clearance into Milos Kerkez to win a throw in front of the dugouts he yelled, gesticulating with both arms to the crowd to keep up the renewed pace. As his team continued to chase the game he clattered into a barely arrived Federico Chiesa, treading his habitual tightrope between yellow and red.
In the immediate aftermath of Will Osula’s unlikely equaliser he did so again, shaking Tino Livramento by the shirt as he won a free-kick to stem any instant Liverpool reaction. This is him. There is no poker face; when he’s angry he can’t hide it, neither when he’s labouring. We see every sinew stretch.
Here he was last man standing, with Tonali and then Joelinton succumbing to second-half injuries. And yet, after Rio Ngumoha’s remarkable late, late winner, it still wasn’t enough. But Newcastle know that whatever their current headaches and shortcomings their skipper will never stop trying to drag them further, whatever the odds.
