Fans need to stop worrying about Miguel Almiron

Newcastle United supporters need to calm down and support Miguel Almiron. It is way too early to criticize him.

We are only entering the second weekend of the new Premier League season, yet some Newcastle United supporters have whipped out their megaphones to criticize Miguel Almiron. Charlie Smith from Read Newcastle recently published an interesting article in which he highlights what these critics are saying on social media. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I personally think there are too many supporters out there who are too quick to criticize the Paraguayan international.

Since making his debut with the Magpies in February, Almiron has made 11 Premier League appearances, but he is yet to score a goal or complete an assist. Those empty statistics are what stand out to supporters and trigger their frustration, however, they are not taking the following things into account.

Firstly, coming to the Premier League from Major League Soccer is like going from the shallow end of a swimming pool to swimming in the middle of the ocean. I know that is extreme, but the disparity in quality between the sport in England and in the United States is that noticeable. In addition to adapting to English football, Almiron found himself adapting to a new role on the pitch. During his time at Atlanta United he primarily played as a traditional number ten and every now and then he would play as a striker. Under Rafa Benitez, and I made this point a few months ago, Almiron was pushed out wide, so his role was to set up Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez, not himself. In other words, playing as a winger limited his personal production offensively.

To make matters more complicated for Almiron, he now finds himself in a new transition phase in a short period of time. The arrival of Steve Bruce four weeks ago created yet another learning curve in which Almiron and his teammates are still trying to properly implement new tactics and a new style of play. Furthermore, Almiron is now surrounded by some new faces up top and it will take some time to develop proper chemistry with Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin.

For these reasons I urge some of you out there to relax a bit and have faith in Almiron. The goals will come, especially with him playing as a striker in this new system, and the assists will come as well. This 3-5-2 formation that Bruce has implemented will benefit Almiron more than anyone, but give it some time. Who knows, he might score his first goal for the Toon tomorrow at Carrow Road against a vulnerable Norwich City back-line.