Miguel Almiron will give Rafa Benitez some more flexibility to experiment with some attacking formations.
Rafa Benitez is clearly a happy man after Mike Ashley pushed his pride aside and paid £21million to secure the services of Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United. The record-breaking deal brought joy to Benitez, but now the Spaniard faces a new dilemma. Almiron is a true playmaker who can score, pass and boasts plenty of pace, so this means Benitez can experiment with some attacking formations. Listed below are three formations that would work best with Almiron leading the midfield as the club’s new number ten.
4-2-3-1
This formation is the one Benitez prefers the most and it will be interesting to see if the Spaniard will stick with it or make some changes. Something worth mentioning with this formation is that Almiron playing in the number ten role would send Ayoze Perez to the bench. Perez is a regular starter for the Magpies, but his lack of goals and assists this season makes Almiron even more valuable in the lineup.
In the 4-2-3-1 setup, Almiron would enjoy plenty of freedom as the lone man behind Salomon Rondon. The Paraguayan could attract defenders outside the box to free up space for Rondon, he could feed Rondon with simple ground passes for assists and he can have multiple attempts at goal from distance, which is something he did on a regular basis in the United States.
4-3-3
This formation could be an exciting one as Almiron could be used in two ways. Firstly, he could be used as an attacking midfielder behind Rondon. Secondly, he could be used as a false nine winger, but this would force either Christian Atsu or Matt Ritchie to take a seat on the bench. Almiron’s pace and superior passing abilities would make him dangerous on the wing and, depending on the matchup, he could feature as a winger on multiple occasions.
Using him up top just outside the box would increase the likelihood of some goals from the former Atlanta United star, but Rondon’s goal tally could also increase thanks to curling crosses from Almiron. Benitez has a few possibilities here, but we should primarily expect to see him use Almiron as a traditional number ten.
3-4-2-1
Last, but not least, we have the 3-4-2-1 formation which sounds intriguing. With only three men in the back, hopefully Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune, Newcastle would be able to throw more bodies forward to get involved in the attack. This extra support would enable Almiron and Perez or Yoshinori Muto to start alongside one another to get some goals. Newcastle have never played with two attacking midfielders, but Benitez should consider giving the triangle attack – Rondon, Almiron and Perez – a shot against weaker opponents.