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Almiron makes Newcastle debut in draw at Wolves

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Newcastle United saw their most expensive signing step on the field for the first time on Monday.

Miguel Almiron made his debut for the Magpies in Newcastle’s 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Almiron came on in the 72nd minute, playing the final 18 minutes for Rafa Benitez’s side. He entered to a rowdy reception from the visiting Newcastle fans at Molineux.

While many wondered where Almiron would play under Benitez, the Paraguayan playmaker ended up playing on the left wing in a front three.

In his short cameo, Almiron completed eight of nine passes while creating one offensive opportunity and making five recoveries.

Newcastle sit in 16th place in the league table, two points clear of the relegation zone. Almiron will aim to make his first start on Feb. 23rd as Newcastle faces fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town.

Comments

  1. I forgot to watch this game. How did Yedlin do? That’s interesting about Almiron, but he’s not American and I thought this site focused on Americans and MLS.

    Reply
    • Yedlin made a lot of mistakes.
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      Almiron is the best player on Newcastle, not much of a shocker there. Not really sure how big of an impact on MLS it will have quite frankly. I will take the other side.
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      The questions I have
      Are there really very many teams that aren’t at the top that can afford to pay $27 million for a player? the answer is No.
      So do the other players suddenly get valued because Adams is crushing it in Bundesliga and Almiron will lead an after thought of a team in the PL? They should…but will they?
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      I think the ones that love the idea of US being a stepping stone will be very disappointed.
      There just can’t be that many players like Almiron that are better than the team they go to, but end up making a ton of money for selling MLS team too. And like almost all of Europe, there is a big gap between MLS and the top paying teams. So what is the stepping stone now? Atlanta selling to Newcastle type trade seems like a HUGE one and done deal to me.
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      I think MLS needs to take the next step, rather than be stepped on. Get to where they are one of the big clubs. It will happen, but probably going to be hard to do.

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      • Hard to do, doesn’t state exactly what I wanted….so to be clear. This is a parity league, so the smallest of those teams needs to get to where Chelsea is, bottom of the big teams. So Colorado type getting to where Chelsea is…type hard to do.

    • Yedlin, bless his heart, did much as he so often does. Flashes of brightness going forward, and some good crosses into the box, which were not always rewarded with accurate shooting from a striker. But just as often, signs of hesitancy, where he goes to about midfield or 3/5 and then doesn’t seem to have any idea about what to do, except to play backward to a defender, which negates any forward momentum. And then when he does get forward, he sometimes suffers lapses of attention or effort tracking back, and is not always able to prevent crosses or runs coming into the box from his corner, as hard as he seems to try.
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      He has learned a lot under Benítez, and has become so strong and is still so fast, and it is a huge achievement for an American just to be holding down a solid starting place in the most competitive league in the world, even if the team as a whole is struggling. But he still just doesn’t quite seem to have his heart in defending quite as much as attacking. If his midfield were really strong — there have been flashes with Diame and Shelvey, and Ritchie blows hot and cold — maybe he could go forward more. But when it isn’t, he can’t. And opposing tricksters seem to have realized that targeting him down the left may be a percentage play eventually, at the highest level. And the highest level in the Premier League is really, really high. That’s what I wish the people who waffle on about the glories of MLS, with its so much slower pace, could comprehend.
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      But all that said, he is surely clearly still the #1 USA choice in his position. That’s not nothing.
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      And if Almirón can now give them more options going forward — and he really does look good, and his success will be an advertisement for MLS, at least if MLS can attract any more top-level international coaches like Martino — then who knows, maybe Yedlin will have more opportunities to shine. I’m certainly rooting for him. He is surely the one US player who has had the greatest success internationally in recent years, given that Pulisic has evidently lost his starting place.
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      Reply

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