Miguel Almirón

[alexf]

Will always be thankful of his form that helped fire us back to the champions league for first time in 20 years. 

 

But like Wilson, we should have cashed in that summer where their stock was at its highest, as it was always unlikely he wasn't going to be able to maintain that purple patch. Same way it was always unlikely Wilson could maintain his fitness.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 10:39 by alexf

[TRon]

6 minutes ago, Stifler said:

At the time of him coming in, anyone outside of the top 6 would just have players in midfield with no real consistent end product as well as the ability to offer an outlet and track back. If they did, the big clubs snapped them up.

Miggy offer us an outlet, and off the ball work, which considering we were a club fighting relegation, without having much of the ball, it was probably more needed.

Now of course scouting and statistical analysis has came on so much, that more teams can get more rounded players. Ourselves, with the takeover releasing new funds, and aims for the club, we are also in a position where we need to get that more rounded player.

Just because Miggy isn’t what we need going forward, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been an asset for us, and it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be an asset for someone else.

 

We can’t confuse were we are today as a club, to the club we were 3 years ago, and judge the players from 3 years ago, on todays standards.

 

You raise some good points. Even if his end product is lacking, he does still have qualities like pace and a fantastic work rate. I don't think that's enough in the Premier, hence the lack of interest. All the clubs in the PL believe they can find someone with the end product if they look across the leagues around the world.

 

But in a less competitive league like the MLS, he could probably tear it up. They will be one of the few who can afford his wages as well.

[Yorkie]

56 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

It’s hardly agenda-driven to state views on a player - does anyone actually hate Almiron?  He’s a hard player to dislike never mind hate or have an agenda against.  When I wrote headless chicken I was referring to his need for excellent coaching and intelligent players around him - without it he looks lost.  And he was hardly transformative for Rafa - his output was effectively zero.

 

He wasn’t a waste of money, but we overpaid for what he was and is.  He absolutely wasn’t a bad signing, but he wasn’t a particularly good one either.  He was ok - which on balance is probably closer to what Almiron has been for us.  Pretty much ‘ok’.  

 

My agenda comment was aimed at Butcher's ott criticism. But anyone (whoever) discounting numbers which actually happened definitely speaks to having an agenda. 

 

He was pretty transformative under Rafa, like, despite the figures. We went from relegation candidates to European form after he came in. 

 

Wary that I'm going to get accusations off happyclappery (for want of a better term) thrown at me again... for the record I'm not a massive Almiron fan - he's been a bit of a mixed bag here like you say - but I do recoil at really ott criticism of people who've played out of their skins for the club and contributed well to one of the best eras in recent memory.

[TheBrownBottle]

9 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

My agenda comment was aimed at Butcher's ott criticism. But anyone (whoever) discounting numbers which actually happened definitely speaks to having an agenda. 

 

He was pretty transformative under Rafa, like, despite the figures. We went from relegation candidates to European form after he came in. 

 

Wary that I'm going to get accusations off happyclappery (for want of a better term) thrown at me again... for the record I'm not a massive Almiron fan - he's been a bit of a mixed bag here like you say - but I do recoil at really ott criticism of people who've played out of their skins for the club and contributed well to one of the best eras in recent memory.

Tbf I don’t like people being accused of being ‘happy clappers’  - I don’t like ‘personalising’ these sort of discussions.  They’re only a fan’s view of a player - no-one’s view is any more valid than anyone else’s .  Nowt wrong with disagreeing over an assessment of a player (nor of singing the lad’s praises). 

 

Almiron’s grafted his bollocks off on pretty much every occasion I’ve seen him play.   I think he’s a good pro and clearly enjoys playing football (and for us).  I sort of wish he’d just been sold in 2023 and left on a real high - it was one of the real success stories of the beginning of Howe’s tenure.  

[Monters]

11 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

My agenda comment was aimed at Butcher's ott criticism. But anyone (whoever) discounting numbers which actually happened definitely speaks to having an agenda. 

 

He was pretty transformative under Rafa, like, despite the figures. We went from relegation candidates to European form after he came in. 

 

Wary that I'm going to get accusations off happyclappery (for want of a better term) thrown at me again... for the record I'm not a massive Almiron fan - he's been a bit of a mixed bag here like you say - but I do recoil at really ott criticism of people who've played out of their skins for the club and contributed well to one of the best eras in recent memory.

Totally agree - I've said before it was one of the most galling things about letting Rafa go was that the team didn't need that much tweaking, towards the end of that season we had played some good stuff (relative to the time, squad level etc.) with Rondon through the middle and Perez & Miggy in behind him...

Binning Rafa & Rondon for Bruce and a more expensive Joelinton looked like madness, obvs I didn't predict the midfield transformation of the Brazilian Colossus!