OPINION
There’s no doubt that Newcastle United winger Miguel Almiron has performed way below expectations since his January move from Atlanta United.
Admittedly those expectations were rather sky-high, as was his price tag (by Newcastle’s standards), but the Paraguay international has still fallen well below the desired standard.
That’s certainly the opinion of former England international Paul Robinson, who feels that the 25-year-old has been the Magpies’ biggest disappointment this season.
“I think it’s Almiron,” he told Football Insider when asked the aforementioned question. “When he was brought in, there was a lot of expectation. I don’t think he’s a bad player, he’s a good player but there’s a lot of work needed on his end product.”
There’s really no arguing with the Sky Sports pundit here. The only other candidate for this unenviable accolade is club record signing Joelinton, but even he has shown some flashes of promise since his move from Hoffenheim last summer.
Almiron, though, has demonstrated zero ability to improve his decision-making in front of goal. He does some nice things in other areas of the pitch, and his pace is a real weapon, but he’s not got any better in the final third.
The statistics from this season demonstrate as much. As per WhoScored.com, the South American has only registered one assist in the Premier League this term, while of course he still hasn’t scored in a black and white shirt.
Yet he averages 1.6 shots per game. Come on now, Miguel, you can’t be that poor in front of goal. To have never even really looked close to scoring despite having so many attempts is extremely poor.
His average key passes tally stands at a disappointing 0.7 an outing, while he is dispossessed 1.1 times and has 2.6 unsuccessful touches per game. That’s all way below what he should be producing.
So, again, you can’t really counter Robinson’s argument. Almiron has undoubtedly been Newcastle’s biggest disappointment this campaign.
