It started in the left-back area, with the left central defender of the three. The final pass was played from the right side of the opposition six-yard box. The move had everything; pauses, incision, deception. A sudden change of direction, the pace quickened, and a pinball exchange of three passes ripped through the Valencia defence. Atletico Madrid would score three goals against Los Che, but the move that everyone talked about, the clip that would be most shared, was the one Memphis Depay couldn’t convert.
At the heart of it, was Mario Hermoso. He started the move off, appeared in the middle of it, and only an excess of generosity perhaps stopped him from finishing it. It was something of microcosm of Hermoso’s improvement at Atletico Madrid, which has seen the team turn its fortunes around in parallel.
The truth is, Hermoso was becoming something of punchline, if not a punching bag. His name became synonymous with chaos – rarely an aspiration for a defender. His distribution, always the attribute mentioned whenever he was, remained a central part of his game. Yet without being cruel, his defending quickened the heart rate.
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— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) March 18, 2023
“This last stretch of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 was not pleasant,” Hermoso admitted to Cadena Cope recently. “It was the consequence of not playing, of not finding your place despite the fact that your work has always come first. But hey, they are situations that you live with in the locker room.”
In La Liga, Hermoso played three games before Christmas, one of which he started. His 119 minutes were a last resort for Diego Simeone, and when he was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of three minutes against Real Madrid, exasperation took the form of seven straight games stewing over his sins on the bench.
While he was sent off again the first match after Christmas, this time Diego Simeone stuck with him. Hermoso can now boast 11 starts in 12 league games since the World Cup. Amongst those first 14 games, Atleti managed just 4 clean sheets. Since Hermoso has come back in, they have 7 shutouts in their last 12 matches. Their win percentage with him rises remarkably from 40% to 64%.
“[I am] feeling useful again, not important, because I have always considered myself important. But it is true that everything becomes much more beautiful when you compete, when you play, when you win, when things go well for the team,” Hermoso perked up.
It’s true that is much more Hermoso with him in the side. His name translates as beautiful, and if the beginning of that run was mostly functional performances as the team regained a sense of structure, Atleti are playing their best football since half way through their last title charge, just over two years ago. The play which featured him marauding forward against Valencia was the best example of it.
Individually, he ranks in the top 1% of central defenders (big five leagues) for switches, the top 3% for key passes, and the top 10% for long passes, illustrating the leading role he has taken on in the Atleti backline when they have the ball.
In those two years, a number of changes have occurred, a number of mechanisms have settled into place this season alone. Not least Antoine Griezmann, who is the beating heart of this Atlético Madrid, providing the cardio of Ngolo Kante and the quality of, well, Griezmann of old. Yet maybe it is no coincidence that their return to this comfortable, sleek Atletico once again features Hermoso at his best. A more stable Hermoso able to provide just the right amount of balance, in a defence where the majority wake up first thinking of how to be mean and miserly. An Hermoso that will give the right weight of pass to Koke Resurreccion, but can look and slide it into the unleashed Griezmann further forward too.
At the turn of the year, the narrative surrounding Atletico Madrid was one of wholesale change. Cholo Simeone’s future seemed uncertain, and Hermoso headed a list several deep that needed to be moved on if they were serious about improving. Now Atleti are playing with personality again, their trajectory clear and upward. Even if Hermoso is not face of this rejuvenation, his own journey wins him best supporting actor. At the club of aggression, fire and visceral passion, Hermoso’s season leaves you warm.
Image via 900/Cordon Press
Great article!