OPINION
Newcastle United’s Miguel Almiron had an interesting international break to say the least.
After playing all 90 minutes in Paraguay’s 1-0 defeat to Peru on Saturday, the playmaker saw red in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Mexico for a cynical, scything challenge from behind that ultimately left his side at a big disadvantage.
There were perhaps some doubts going into Monday’s clash with Arsenal whether or not the South American would be physically ready to feature given the extensive travelling he has had to do over the past week.
Rafa Benitez seemed to put a lot of those fears to bed on on Friday, when he suggested during his press conference that Almiron would be able to play a part in that match.
As quoted in the Chronicle (15.40), the Spaniard described all of his returning internationals as “fine”.
But that won’t be enough too satisfy Newcastle United fans if Almiron puts in anything less than a blinder against the Gunners.
For all of the plaudits he has drawn since moving to England, there have been large spells of fairly important matches where the 24-year-old has gone missing a little.
In most cases he has managed to paper over these cracks with a scintillating piece of creativity or a couple of unfortunate attempts on goal, but that fact is that he can still give a lot more for the Magpies.
The simple fact that he hasn’t managed bag his first goal on Tyneside shows that he still has gears to move up into.
But while United supporters will continue to show patience with their record signing, if he comes back into the side after a shocker on international duty and puts in a lacklustre performance, it could lead to questions being asked of both him and his manager.
