Miguel Almiron’s unhappy reaction to being subbed off in Newcastle United's nil-nil draw with Crystal Palace should be viewed as the forward showing the ‘ruthlessness’ he has sometimes lacked while on Tyneside. Almiron was replaced by Jacob Murphy in the 70th minute and looked far from happy to be leaving the pitch.
Looking first shocked and then disgruntled, Almiron took a slow walk from the right-hand side of the pitch before Toon boss Eddie Howe had to gesture for him to move quicker and finally exit the turf. His reaction has been hailed as a positive for Howe with our Newcastle United editor Aaron Stokes believing that it shows a desire to play every moment is not a bad thing.
“I loved his reaction,” Stokes said on The Everything is Black and White Podcast, “yes, he should have run off but he needs to be more ruthless on the pitch so it was nice to see him come off thinking ‘I should be staying on here,’ and we need more of that from Almiron.”
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Almiron was guilty of missing a golden opportunity against Palace after bringing down a superb pass from Sean Longstaff but he smashed the ball past the post. There were cheers and applause for his pressing of the Palace defence but equal groans for his inability to use his right foot - something Stokes agreed with.
“He played well but every week we are coming back to the same old problem and that is he doesn’t have that killer instinct. It annoys me so much that he doesn’t have a right foot.
“So many times he is getting himself into perfect positions, his movement is fantastic and he’s really aware of where he needs to be but he’s getting into these positions where a right-footer would be swinging that ball, maybe the first time.
“But Miggy takes a touch, onto his left, and it kills the rhythm of the game.”
Yet for all criticism, there was praise for Almiron. The aforementioned defensive work - especially in United’s attacking third, and his running at the Palace defence was notable, even more so after he was subbed off.
Indeed this writer felt Newcastle looked worse off when Almiron was replaced by Murphy - United looking pedestrian at times with a lack of runners forcing the movement sideways instead of forwards. Youngster Elliot Anderson who came onto the other flank for Ryan Fraser provided some remedy to that, and he may even prove to be the player who replaces Almiron sooner rather than later.
And if that would be the case, Almiron could not argue he has not been given his fair chance to prove himself. Indeed, he did enough in pre-season to make the arrival of a winger less of a priority than it may have been otherwise and started the season in arguably his best form in a Toon shirt.
He’s also working hard away from the pitch - putting the hours in the gym even on days off. And while no one can doubt his enthusiasm or goodwill, it can’t remedy his lack of a clinical touch.
“A lot of what was happening against Palace,” Stokes added, “was down to him - winning the ball in his own half, driving forward, his energy is fantastic and we would have a real, real player on our hands if he could just finish.”
And that’s the frustration - he just can’t seem to finish. With the January window just over four months away, it’s a big end to the year for Almiron to prove his worth to Newcastle. His reaction to being subbed, for some a justified reaction after his performance, is a good thing but Almiron now needs to follow that up with a better performance against West Ham otherwise there are others waiting for their opportunity.
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