Charlie Nicholas watched Newcastle United attacker Miguel Almiron feature in the 1-0 loss for Crystal Palace and had a suggestion for manager Rafa Benitez as a result.
The pundit shared that he was surprised by the 25-year-old during the loss against Palace as he thought the player would have been settled into life in the Premier League by now.
Nicholas then added that he thinks Almiron’s struggles to show the best of his ability could be fixed by Benitez playing the midfielder closer to Salomon Rondon, as the 25-year-old was currently doing too much work away from goal.
“He definitely is (feeling the strain),” said Nicholas on Soccer Saturday (Saturday April 5th, Sky Sports News, 17:39).
“He has willingness to have the ball when on or off it, his touch is slightly off which is a surprise for him, I thought by now he would have been technically feeling if he was fit.
“Him and Wan-Bissaka, he’s got pace, Almiron’s trying to run him, he’s got pace, and that was a good contest today.
“He just never really got…If I’m Rafa, I’d play him a bit closer to Rondon and perhaps like Perez do a bit more of the work, he’s doing too much, too much and if I want him in the team to make a difference then I’d want him closer to Rondon.”
OPINION
Nicholas is right that Almiron should be playing higher up the field but the 25-year-old is so enthusiastic to get on the ball, he’s dropping back himself in order to get more touches of the ball. It doesn’t appear like Benitez is telling the attacking midfielder to get back and help his side out, it is simply something the player is opting to do himself. This could be a bad habit for Almiron that Benitez needs to address, but then there are going to be games where Almiron can’t be on the brink of the leading line, and has to sit deep instead. While Nicholas seems surprised that Almiron is still not firing on all cylinders, given how different the MLS is to the Premier League, it was always going to take several games for him to truly settle. In fact it would be no surprise if Magpies supporters don’t see the best of Almiron until next season.
