Miguel Almiron feeling better back on Atlanta United’s right wing

Miguel Almiron said he is starting to feel better after being moved back to right wing eight matches ago.

Almiron has three assists during the stretch, though none in the past four matches.

“I think we have a good connection with Ronald (Hernandez), with Alexey (Miranchuk),” he said. “So of course, I’m trying to help the team. I’m trying to help with goals, with assists.”

Almiron started the season at right wing. He was moved by manager Ronny Deila to attacking midfielder to accommodate his tendency to drift inside, but was moved back for the Toronto match and has played there since.

Impactful stats are what Deila said he wants to see. Deila said Almiron is doing a good job of switching play from the right to the left. He needs to concentrate on attacking the spaces on the right after making the pass so he can receive the ball again in goal-scoring places.

“Without goals we will never win,” Deila said. “So we need to have more goals. And if you’re going to have that we have to be in the areas where you score goals.”

If Almiron weren’t MLS’ fourth highest-paid player, at $7.8 million, the focus on goals and assists might not be as intense. But he is, the scrutiny is there and the stats aren’t.

He has three goals and six assists, including two secondary assists. He hasn’t scored in his past 17 appearances.

None of the stats around goals and assists are worthy of a Designated Player. His four primary assists are 59th in MLS, according to fbref.com. His 27 key passes are 61st in MLS. Only 4% of his shots have resulted in goals, putting him 221st, and his goals minus expected goals is minus-3.3, 779th. He’s putting 30.2% of his shots on goal, 166th in MLS.

This season hasn’t gone like Almiron expected when he was acquired from Newcastle for $10 million before the season.

“I think we have very good players,” he said. “I think with the quality of players on this team, I think we should be fighting and be higher in the table.”

Almiron’s move to the right has helped his teammates.

Miranchuk moved from a central midfielder to attacking midfielder, where he started the season. He has five goals in his past seven matches.

Emmanuel Latte Lath has four goals since the Toronto match. Saba Lobjanidze has a goal and two assists.

Atlanta United, although playing better, still isn’t winning. It is 1-3-4 in its past eight matches. It is 14 points below the playoff line with nine matches remaining. It will next play at Colorado.

“Unfortunately, soccer is like that,” Almiron said. “And sometimes you go through these periods, but that’s when you really learn about everything. So you have to put in twice the amount of work to try to keep going and try to get Atlanta back to where we want.”

New faces: Midfielder Steven Alzate and centerback Juan Berrocal have their visas and trained with the team for the first time Thursday. Both came off the bench Saturday at Montreal.