Why Arda Turan Is Absolutely Vital to Atletico Madrid's Aims This Season

Arda Turan is expected to return to the Atletico Madrid squad for Saturday’s derby against Real Madrid and is likely to have a crucial role to play if his side are to take three points from their city rivals.

Per Ozgur Sancar and Jorge Garcia of AS (in Spanish), Turan was rested from last weekend’s victory away to Eibar due to a minor hamstring injury. Diego Simeone did not want to take any risks with the Turkish international ahead of the visit of the league leaders.

The Atletico coach has come to lean heavily on Turan during his time in charge at the Vicente Calderon and knows that his No. 10 will be a key figure in their fight for honours between now and the end of the campaign.

The 28-year-old’s top-line statistics are not hugely impressive. Per WhoScored.com, he has scored two goals and provided four assists in 17 starts and 1402 minutes of action so far this season. That equates to a direct contribution to a goal every 234 minutes.

But he brings much more to Atletico than simply goals and assists. Quick-footed, strong and determined, he is an expert ball-carrier. He helps Atletico move up the field and draws fouls (a team-high 2.2 per match, as per WhoScored) to relieve pressure on the defence.

“That’s my job,” he told FIFA.com in October of last year. “I take care of organising the attack. When we’re under the cosh, I can hold up the ball to give my team-mates a breather, maybe forcing someone into fouling me.”

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On the defensive end, he dutifully drops back into position as part of Atletico’s standard low block or energetically scampers after opposition players when a higher press is utilised. Despite his clear ability as a footballer, he is also willing to work for the team.

Perhaps above all, he embodies the intensity with which Simeone expects his players to perform.

The Atletico coach does not currently have a player at his disposal who is capable of replicating exactly what Turan brings to the side. In the long term it will be interesting to see if this is the kind of role he has in mind for Angel Correa—currently to be found ripping it up at the South American U20 Championship in Uruguay—but for now, Turan is his only option.

“Arda is at a point where he knows he’s a game-changer and the team needs him,” Simeone said in the wake of Atletico’s 2-0 win over Granada in January, as per Inside Spanish Football. “In the time he’s been with us, he’s grown defensively. He has a natural-born talent.”

That is not to say that Simeone is incapable of coming up with different solutions when Turan isn’t available or is in need of a rest. But he will certainly want to be able to count on the Turkish international for Atletico’s most important fixtures during the final months of the campaign.

Turan missed some key matches during the latter part of last season after suffering a pelvic injury that sidelined him for the majority of April. Having returned, he was substituted 23 minutes into the title decider against Barcelona with a re-occurrence of the problem and then missed the Champions League final against Madrid.

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Simeone has used Turan as an impact substitute—a player who can come on and change the course of the match—in Atletico’s recent matches against their city rivals. And he performed the role to perfection in their 2-1 league victory at the Bernabeu earlier this season.

He entered the field in place of Gabi in the 61st minute of play and immediately enlivened his team. He flashed one effort inches wide of the post before producing a precise finish into the corner for the 76th-minute winner.

While he may not always hit the right note off the pitch, on it Turan is the sort of player who his coach and teammates can rely on to produce a telling performance when necessary. And that is why he will be absolutely vital if Atletico are to fulfil their ambitions between now and the end of the season.

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