Lee Ryder has criticised the performance of Miguel Almiron as Newcastle United drew 1-1 with Leeds United in the Premier League on Friday night.
The Lowdown: All square
It finished all square at St James’ Park after Raphinha had given the away side an early lead with a deceptive cross, before Allan Saint-Maximin brought the hosts level with a lovely run complemented by a fine finish into the bottom corner of the net.
It was not the three points that Steve Bruce would have wanted at home, but at least they did not come away with another loss.
The Latest: Ryder on Almiron
Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, Ryder was critical of Almiron’s overall performance, claiming that he was ‘in the wars’ as Marcelo Bielsa’s team ‘targeted’ him.
The journalist gave the Paraguay international a mere 6/10 rating, the joint-lowest out of any player to have started the game, and wrote that he was “in the wars as Leeds targeted the playmaker” and “unable to make the impact we all know he can”.
The Verdict: Can do better
Almiron certainly has the ability to produce for Newcastle, and has shown that he can do better than what he did last night.
Getting a yellow card for arguing over what he thought was a foul after being knocked off of the ball too easily pretty much summed up his game, as he lost out on five of his duels in total (Sofascore).
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He also failed to record a single shot on target and only managed 29 touches of the ball in total (Sofascore). He squandered possession on nine different occasions, meaning that he lost the ball roughly once every 3.2 touches on average.
Nonetheless, if the Magpies are going to pick up their first win of the top-flight season, then Almiron needs to be at his best – which he certainly wasn’t last night.
In other news, many Newcastle fans slammed this man’s display against Leeds