Mario Hermoso: Atlético's solutions man

Diego Simeone's side are unbeaten in La Liga since the turn of the year - a run which coincides with Hermoso's re-integration into the team.

“Above all, [it was] to realise what it means to wear the Atlético Madrid shirt, of what it costs… of the importance of competing [for] this shirt.”

Speaking after their 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano, that was how Mario Hermoso mused on the club’s turnaround this year. It was, perhaps, a typically convenient response. The type that suits everyone, in not providing too much detail yet ticking the box of post-match reaction.

At the same time, Hermoso sells himself short in his explanation. Of course Atlético are competing better. And of course, they are playing with a greater sense of pride. Yet their improvement is rooted in much more tangible reasons too. Though Hermoso might well be driving performance on emotional factors, the solutions he is providing for Atlético are nothing if not practical.

Since coming back into the team around the turn of the year, only one centre back has made more line-breaking pass from the defensive half than Hermoso (59). That player is Raúl Albiol, who plays under a manager in Quique Setién who emphasises the construction of play from the back as much as anyone in the country. With Atlético, that emphasis isn’t the same. And yet through Hermoso’s arrival as their left-sided centre back, they are finding pathways that didn’t exist for them in the first half of the season.

Between his quality as a passer and flexibility in a positional sense, Atlético have found smoother avenues to accelerate attacks. Though their current system is perhaps best described as a 3-5-2, they flip between 3-5-2, 3-4-3 and 4-4-2 shapes throughout the course of games — something that is often dictated by positioning of their wing backs in particular. Within this, Hermoso can comfortably provide support as a full back when Yannick Carrasco is in higher positions, and at times even step in as an extra midfielder to vary Atlético’s construction of play.

While Simeone retains the robustness of Savic and Giménez as centre backs, the return of Hermoso has elevated the quality of Atlético’s possession — their main problem given the Argentine’s preference for centre backs types — without having to alter the 3-5-2 setup. And with the 27-year-old in position on the left, it decreases the responsibility for Savić — the right-sided centre back — to advance their possession as a passer and ball carrier, which isn’t a natural part of his game.

Atlético ranked eighth in the first half the season for xG per game (1.3), which had them creating to a similar level as Osasuna. In the second half of the season, only Real Madrid (2.1) have generated more than Simeone’s side (1.8). When discussing their struggles as an attacking side in the former, the debate often (fairly) surrounded the status of Antoine Griezmann — the player they, at the time, couldn’t afford to play for 90 minutes at a time. But his return wasn’t the only solution they could count on.

While Griezmann is the do-it-all player that solves a lot of problems individually, the configuration of Atlético’s defence was another obstacle to becoming a fluent team in possession, and thus their ability to create chances from open play. The three centre back system that had previously been made up by a grouping of Stefan Savić, José María Giménez, Reinildo Mandava and Axel Witsel was, despite stacked with defensive capability, some way behind their competitors for producing purposeful and varied distribution. That was — and has been historically — a clear decision on the part of Simeone, who leans much further in the direction of defensive traits on the spectrum of centre back profiles.

With Hermoso returned to the fold after Reinildo’s injury, Simeone has been led, somewhat fortuitously, away from that total priority on defensive strength. The Argentine is now getting the best of both worlds from the defenders in his system, with Hermoso taking charge at the origin of their attacks. Indeed, since coming back into the team at the end of December, he has been involved in more goal-ending sequences of play than any other centre back in La Liga (7).

At the turn of the year, it looked like the Diego Simeone era might be coming to a close at Atlético Madrid. Mario Hermoso, meanwhile, was a player you only saw in the background when the cameras panned to his manager on the touchline. Here in April, however, it looks like not only could Simeone have found a second wind, it wouldn’t have been possible without the return of a player many had given up on.