Steve Brucehas moved to clarify the controversy surrounding Jetro Willems’ Newcastle debut by admitted he initially sent the Dutch player on in midfield.
The Magpies lost 1-0 to Arsenal in their Premier League opener with speculation substitute Willems did not know where he was meant to play.
The debate was sparked after Willems’ 54th minute introduction, replacing Jonjo Shelvey, where he proceeded to charge around in midfield.
Bruce reacted after a minute, attempting to shift the 25-year-old to left wing-back. The confusion ultimately cost the hosts, with Willems caught out of position while shifting roles as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted the winner in the 58th minute.
“I put Jetro on in midfield, where he played all last season for Frankfurt, and then I very quickly thought, “Do you know something? That’s a bit unfair on him’,“ Bruce explained.
“Maybe I should have done it beforehand. It’s a bit unfair on him because he’s making his debut and (I thought), ‘I will put him on in his favoured position’, so I switched him very, very quickly.
“We’ve made a mistake, but he wasn’t the only one who made a mistake in the build-up to the goal.
“The confusion I talked about was to get the message across to go over. But look, people have jumped all over it, sensationalised it.
“Also, the reason I didn’t have a midfield player on the bench was that I knew Jetro could play there. I hope that tries to fix the debate that has been raging.”
