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Anderson slams Muto for anonymous display v Norwich

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BBC Newcastle pundit John Anderson has slammed Yoshinori Muto after the Japan international complained about being isolated in Newcastle United’s 3-1 defeat at Norwich over the weekend.

Muto, 27, has told the Chronicle that he did not enjoy his appearance off the bench at Carrow Road due to constantly being surrounded by the Norwich players and admitted that the whole team “struggled”.

Ex-Newcastle player Anderson has since hit out at Muto for his lack of involvement, saying that his woes were just as much his fault as they were the teams’.

“He didn’t touch the ball,” Anderson told the BBC Newcastle’s Newcastle United podcast.

“He came with 20-odd minutes [left]. He didn’t touch the ball for about 15 minutes.”

When asked if that was because Muto wasn’t playing well or the team was struggling, Anderson agreed it was “a bit of both”.

OPINION

Muto was not the only player who struggled at Norwich and as he is not exactly key first-team player, it is odd to hear him speaking out about his troubles unless he is trying to justify his bad performance or make it public that he’s not happy with Steve Bruce’s tactics. According to stats by WhoScored, Muto touched the ball just nine times after he came off the bench at Carrow Road. However to have Anderson saying that the Japanese forward failed to have a touch in 15 minutes just shows how meaningless those touches were – they were probably just simple passes to team-mates or headers from goal-kicks. Muto is not the only player struggling and that is important to remember. It’s not like Joelinton was looking good before Muto came on to replace the club’s record-signing. Bruce needs to sort this out soon because if things have not improved by the time October or November come around, Mike Ashley might have a decision to make.

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