Newcastle United striker Yoshinori Muto has been struggling for game time since he arrived at St. James’ Park.

Muto has only been given minimal chances at Newcastle since arriving last season.
The striker did impress over pre-season at Newcastle, and with the Magpies struggling against Norwich, Steve Bruce turned to the Japanese international to try and get his side back into the game.
Muto failed to have the desired impact, as Newcastle slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Carrow Road.
And Muto has suggested that he didn’t have enough support around him.
“It was really hard. I felt isolated and I was always surrounded by three or four opponents,” he said.
“As a forward that was very tough. As a team we struggled overall.”

Muto’s comments have hardly helped Bruce at a point where he is already in for criticism.
Muto’s words have been taken as criticism of Newcastle’s tactics, which is the last thing Bruce needs right now.
With Muto fighting for his place, his outspoken comments where hardly advisable. And he may well have done his chances of breaking into Newcastle’s team harm by coming out and publicly suggesting he struggled.
Bruce has told the Chronicle in pre-season that he had been ‘very, very impressed’ by Muto, but the forward’s comments look misguided at a time when Newcastle needed to display unity.

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