{"id":1109153,"date":"2019-10-02T12:22:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T11:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1109153"},"modified":"2020-02-25T11:21:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T11:21:37","slug":"how-steve-bruce-is-destroying-miguel-almiron-newcastle-united","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/how-steve-bruce-is-destroying-miguel-almiron-newcastle-united\/","title":{"rendered":"Miguel Almiron: How Steve Bruce is destroying Newcastle United’s landmark signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newcastle United have some serious problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their 5-0 demolition against Leicester City made it five games without a win across all competitions and leaves them stranded in 19th in the Premier League table with just one victory to speak of all season \u2013 look away now, Spurs fans.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7383312-alisson-is-the-golden-middle-of-the-goalkeeper-venn-diagram<\/p>\n

You could quite easily highlight a number of flaws in Steve Bruce<\/span>‘s side: Isaac Hayden’s lack of discipline against Leicester, Joelinton not quite hitting the mark yet, or indecision over whether they should play a three, four or five-man defence.<\/p>\n

One issue seems to stand above them all, though \u2013 the form, or rather lack of form, of Miguel Almiron.<\/p>\n

Signed from Atlanta United in January for a then club-record \u00a320m, the Paraguay international was supposed to be the catalyst for Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle to throw off the shackles of their low block and begin crucifying teams with lightning counter-attacks.<\/p>\n

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READ MORE:<\/strong> MLS: Carlos Vela matches Josef Martinez record and USMNT legends bid farewell<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

And for a time, that was absolutely the case \u2013 from Almiron’s debut against Wolves on February 11th until the final day of last season (13 games), Newcastle ranked sixth in the Premier League for chances created with 135 having created just 190 during the 25 games which preceded, the third-lowest number in the division.<\/p>\n

The Magpies lost just four of their final 13 games of the 2018\/19 campaign after losing 13 of their previous 25.<\/p>\n

Almiron didn’t directly contribute a goal or assist himself but he did have an open-play xG contribution of 2.26 and an xA rating of 0.77, suggesting he was heavily influencing Newcastle’s play and probably should have had some stats on the board had he or his team-mates been a little sharper in the 18-yard box.<\/p>\n

This season has been a completely different story, with Almiron’s xA and open-play xG contribution dropping to 0.15 and 0.98, respectively. So, why is that?<\/p>\n