Marcos Llorente’s slump

Marcos Llorente has had a rather dire 2021-22 season. Nothing to do with what he had done last season. A year ago he was practically the best player in LaLiga and now he is not having any luck. To make matters worse, in Seville he was injured again. Surely the Madrilenian will be looking forward to the end of this year and to focus on 2022. Llorente’s downturn leaves Atlético quite touched, as it has been one of Cholo’s strongholds.

Last season, in the first seventeen games of the championship, he had scored six goals and four assists. LaLiga ended with twelve goals and eleven assists. Some devastating numbers for a player who is not a forward. In what we have of a tournament Garter belt has not scored yet and has only given one assist. The difference is brutal.

This season he has played 18 official competition matches (13 in LaLiga and five in the Champions League). He has lost five games, four in the championship and one in the Champions League. For the Cholo it is still essential. The problem is that Trippier was also injured and the Argentine coach turned to Marcos Llorente as a right back. He gave up, but away from the rival area he is not the same footballer. He played on the wing, as a lane, also in the center of the field … In that sense there is not a single complaint with the Madrilenian: he plays where his coach needs him.

Now he has fallen back injured. Against Sevilla he reached back and withdrew from the field. It is not the same injury he suffered at another time this season. Now it is in the gluteal area. Before that, he was out for a month due to a muscle injury. He forced to play against Liverpool, in the Wanda Metropolitano, and it was expensive. He recovered well, but has now re-injured.

Comparisons with last season are again tedious, since he played 37 league games and eight in the Champions League. He only missed the appointment against Betis. There are never two equal seasons, but in the case of Marcos Llorente the difference is very marked. Simeone already has something to ask for in the new year: health in general and in particular for one of his best footballers.