How Did Miguel Almiron Blow My Mind (Despite Playing Against Huddersfield)
It was another weekend of football to look forward too. By now, I don’t have much to complain about my beloved Huddersfield Town. The season pretty much looks dead and buried. All that is left, is to see out the remaining fixtures in hoping we give the best impression.
The most I can hope is the new coach, Jan Siewart will installed back the “No Limits” and “Terrier Spirit” back into the team. At least, if we go down, let’s go down with a fight. While there is so much I can talk about this season, perhaps we might leave that for another time.
This weekend, Town will travel to the North East to face Newcastle United. The most talked about player in this fixture, obviously not a Town player, of course, was the Magpies record signing from Paraguay.
I must admit that I didn’t follow that much of Miguel Almiron’s time with Lanus. But I do know the amount of buzz that was built around him when he was courted by a newly established team in the United States. Major League Soccer (MLS) has just expanded its operation into the state of Georgia with the formation of Atlanta United.
In my limited lifetime of watching the MLS, I have never seen a club that is launched in such magnitude affair as Atlanta. The man that was hired to lead the ship was non-other than former Argentina coach, Gerardo “Tata” Martino. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
The presence of a strong South American contingent apart from Almiron, signal theirs intend just how serious this project is. Seeing Almiron alongside Yamil Asad, Hector Villalba and Josef Martinez was a mouth prospect that you can’t afford to ignore. And in Almiron, they had the perfect footballer who can be the franchise player for this team.
In a space of two years, both Martino and Almiron have transformed Atlanta into the new outlaw in the MLS with a strong top-five finish in the overall standings. The icing on the cake is winning last year’s MLS Cup. At the heart of it all, is this Paraguay sensation that has been constantly inking his name week-in-week-out for this team.
Almiron’s arrival to Newcastle was gaining much traction thanks to my friend Roberto Rojas who first broke the news before even the wider English media caught up on it. At first, there was doubt as to whether it was wise for the club to spend £20 million on a player that was playing in America. Like it or not, there is still this stigma in football when comes to football in the US rather from a country with a strong football tradition.
On his home debut against my beloved club, Almiron proves the doubters wrong. Town had a better start but once the Toon Army started to get into gear, I knew trouble was on the horizon. Almiron was beginning to assert his game and looking comfortable with the ball.
While Town did their best to keep things together, the lack of effort in creating opportunities will hurt us eventually. It almost happens when Almiron made a bursting run and was on through for goal. He only needed to beat Jonas Lossl. Rather than taking a shot, he did what you would expect from a typical South American player.
Almiron decided to chip the ball over the Lossl in which in nine out of ten circumstances, would eventually end with a goal. But luckily this time, it was that one odd moment that favoured us. And when Rondon also hit the bar following the rebound, I’m thinking maybe the Gods are smiling at us today.
Almiron continued to run riot around the pitch. He was roaming freely from the left to the middle, giving Huddersfield Town all sorts of problem. Tommy Smith was is given the most audacious task to mark him. A ruthless fighter in his own right, you have to expect Smith not give Almiron an inch even if it means going physically.
However, it was an obvious miss match for Smith in trying to contain the trickery Paraguayan. Almiron was looking more dangerous as the match progress. And Smith had to take his defence to another level, doing whatever it takes to hold our garrison.
In a necessary evil attempt, a powerful lunge from Smith on Almiron forced the referee to show him the red card. I’m sure it wasn’t anything malicious from Smith’s part. He did what he had to do against a player that was gaining influence on the game.
Did that challenge shackle Almiron’s confidence in the game? Of course, it didn’t. He knew all about the physicality aspect of the English game. To outwit your more sturdy opponent is to use your intelligence and chicanery with the ball.
He nearly scored when his quick-witted move inside Town’s penalty area saw him firing the ball with his left foot at Lossl. However, Town’s goalkeeper almost made a comical error by fumbling the ball. Luckily Chris Löwe was there to clear the ball before it got over the line.
Finishing the first 45 minutes goalless with 10 men didn’t seem like a bad outcome so far. The fact that Newcastle had hit the post twice and missed several opportunities, I still had this feeling a miracle is in the air. That was all put to rest in a space of seven minutes in the second half. Goals from Solomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez with did the damage for us. I knew it was coming just had this optimism for my team that we may take something from this game.
Almiron didn’t score or made any assist today. But he did had three shots on target. And he was laboriously involved in both of Newcastle’s goals. Not forgetting he made six key passes. His overall game deserves a standing ovation when he brought out in the 81st minute.
But I can’t help to contain my admiration for Almiron. He is all that I like in a footballer. Not the most imposing character in terms of body build. But is proven lethal with the ball using his cunning and legerdemain style of play. His labyrinths inspired football, reminds me of how Alex Pritchard could have been for us.
Don’t get me wrong, I do respect the type of footballers that play to their strengths. Its necessarily for every team to have that strong somatic presence. But the modern game is developed on the idea that winning requires a lot of acute and perspicacious way of thinking. Footballers need to have an uncanny and far-sighted view both in their mind and feet. Almiron’s DNA does contain the type traits which I have just mentioned.
In just 90 minutes, this visionary footballer has blown my mind. Put it simply, if I could just paint blue on the black stripe of his shirt, just to see him playing Huddersfield Town; I will do it without hesitation.
How long can the Magpies hold on to him is another question. If Almiron continues to improve his game in the Premier League, there will be potential suitors from London or Manchester. Only time will tell.
