Atlanta United's Miguel Almiron is the front-runner to be named the MVP of MLS this season.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said.
Though man-marked at least, double-teamed typically, the Paraguayan speedster is a black-and-red blur, running away from the added attention to notch six goals with five assists in helping the Five Stripes to the best record in the league as they prepare to host the New York Red Bulls on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
That MVP candidacy may have started early last season when Martino urged Almiron to shoot more.
Almiron would work himself into good positions, only to unselfishly look for a teammate rather than put his left foot through the ball and toward the goal. After Almiron passed up two shots in favor of uncashed-in assists in a draw at Portland a few days more than a year ago, Martino and Almiron had a conversation.
Shoot. Please.
Before the game at beautiful Providence Park last year, Almiron had 18 shots in nine games (2 per game) with two goals. After that 1-1 result, Almiron took 66 shots in the next 21 games (3.1 per game) with seven goals. He worked himself into the conversation for the Landon Donovan trophy given to the league’s MVP until an injury in September.
“With Miguel or any players, the more time you get to work with them, the players just evolve,” Martino said. “We’ve now been working together for a longer time. it was something we talked about. Miguel is really good at absorbing what we are asking him to do.”
Almiron laced his Nike shooting boots again this season. The 24-year-old leads MLS this season with 55 shots, 14 on goal, in 11 appearances (5 per game). Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco ranks second with 46 in seven appearances.
“I’m still trying to get into the box more often, still trying to take more shots,” he said after acknowledging he didn’t know he was leading the league in shots. “I think I’m still trying to improve. That’s not the priority. The priority is to still make the best play so that Josef (Martinez) or another player is in a good position to have a scoring chance.”
After helping Atlanta United become the first MLS expansion team since Seattle in 2009 to make the playoffs, Almiron’s scoring has helped Atlanta United lead the league in goals scored (25) and the team is tied with the Red Bulls for goal difference (plus-12) before this weekend’s game.
“He is that player that gives us the seconds we need,” Atlanta United midfielder Kevin Kratz said. “He’s able to make these passes and beat someone one-on-one and take him out of the game.
“This is definitely special and something he needs to keep doing. He’s confident with the ball. He’s really good for us right now.”
Julian Gressel said Almiron has developed into a player that just one player can’t defend, saying he keeps the everyone on the opposing team in check.
“He doesn’t just bother one or two guys,” Gressel said. “He’s really all over the field. That’s what’s so hard to defend, I think.”
Handling that attention has been another area of development this season.
Teammate Jeff Larentowicz has seen him mature emotionally in dealing with being game-planned, as well as physically in handling the pushes, pulls, trips and kicks that frequently happen every game from exasperated defenders as Almiron often dribbles around them.
“Almiron is one of best I’ve ever seen in this league,” D.C. United manager Ben Olsen said after Almiron scored a goal in a 3-1 win in Week 2. “They are a good team, but he is special. He’s nasty, and he makes them tick.”
Opponents and supporters often accuse him of embellishment, but he has been fouled 27 times, tied for fifth-most in the league this season. Almiron can sometimes make the most of contact, but he has also been hit hard numerous times this season. Typically, he gets up, smiles and continues anew, looking for pockets of space in the defense, looking for gaps to exploit, looking for that game-breaking pass … or shot.
“It takes a certain amount of experience with that kind of things to get over it, move on and to focus on what you need to do,” Larentowicz said. “Teams man-mark him, try to double team him, and he’s dealing with other things. that experience of seeing it week after week that helps you to grow. He’s only continuing to grow.”
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