Oliver Torres Can Be Atletico Madrid's Not-so-Secret Weapon in New Liga Season

Atletico Madrid are heading closer toward the start of the new 2015-16 Liga season in Spain. With performances and results picking up in pre-season, expectations and optimism will be sky high as they look to pick up yet more silverware under manager Diego Simeone.

With a squad packed full of options, especially in attack, Simeone could have to make slight changes to his usual approach of maintaining the same XI wherever possible. This will ensure that all the talent available to him plays a part, stays happy and keeps up their fitness.

One of the "new" faces who will be hoping to play a key role is Oliver Torres, with the attacking midfielder increasingly showing he will be capable of having a say in how successful Atletico's season can be. He certainly isn't the finished product just yet. But he can still be a key offensive weapon for Atleti once competitive action kicks off.

Growth

Having featured for Atleti two seasons ago to the tune of around 500 minutes, the then-18-year-old went on loan to Villarreal for the latter part of 2013-14 to amass some more regular experience in Spain's top flight. He just about doubled his minutes on the pitch in an eight-game spell, proving the worth of spending more time at a team where he would regularly feature.

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That was, in turn, the catalyst for a season-long spell at FC Porto last term, where Oliver was a regular in the No. 10 role and clocked up 40 appearances in all competitions.

Now back at Atletico for pre-season, he is impressing the senior members of the squad. Spanish international right-back Juanfran remarked, per David G. Medina of Marca, "Oliver is looking much stronger and is in really good shape. The year in Porto did him the world of good. I'm convinced that he's going to be very important for us. The coach feels the same way."

His physical and mental strength to take on the role of chief creator of the side is exactly what Simeone wants from his players. If Juanfran is right, and the manager has confidence in Torres' ability, we expect to see plenty of him this term.

Positions

From the No. 10 role at Porto to the flanks at Atleti—that's the logical progression for the 20-year-old.

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Atleti's normal system and presumed option for the campaign—4-4-2 or 4-3-3—doesn't really allow for a central playmaker in behind a single striker. Instead, the system looks for plenty of movement and creativity to come from the wide midfielders who are allowed to drift infield, create spaces and search out passes from deep.

Where last year Arda Turan did that from the right and Koke from the left, two new faces should be doing so this term—the former is gone, and the latter should be seen much more often in the centre. Yannick Ferreira Carrasco will be one, more often than not, but Oliver is definitely one of the considerations elsewhere.

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As far back as mid-July, Simeone referred to Torres performing in this role when speaking to Radio Marca (in Spanish), noting that with Koke himself through the middle, Torres was one who could play the "Koke role" from wider.

With the positional versatility of Atleti's front line—Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Luciano Vietto in particular—there will also, of course, be the chance to flit into a bona fide 4-2-3-1 at a moment's notice. If Simeone opts for that, there are few more natural fits for the centre of the three than Oliver—though this will very much be an in-game option rather than a regular starting system for the rojiblancos.

Expectation

So what's to expect from Torres, if he's no longer a secret and yet not a guaranteed starter?

Judging by pre-season, his skill on the ball has been merged beautifully with tremendous work ethic, an appreciation of his off-the-ball tactical responsibilities and greater physical resistance, not just to challenges, but to lasting longer within games.

Torres has the vision and confidence to pick out passes into the penalty area that others wouldn't see. He has the natural inclination to run with the ball at his feet and beat a man when it seems opportune to do so, and he isn't afraid to shoot from range. One slight criticism of the Atletico midfield last season is that they didn't trouble the scoresheet nearly often enough. It's fair to suggest that the defenders are more of a goal threat, given Atleti's propensity to supply impressive set pieces.

Seven goals in just under 2,000 minutes of Liga NOS action in Portugal last term suggests this is an area Oliver Torres can help in.

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He's not likely to start the season in Simeone's initial XI, but he certainly has done enough to suggest he can be involved in match-day squads from the off. He could be up against Saul Ñiguez and Raul Garcia, three players for one starting spot and one bench spot, so minutes on the pitch will be limited early on and will have to be warranted.

But once he begins to win game time, don't be surprised to see him impact enough to gradually force his way into more starting XIs. Torres has a level of individual balance and skill which, especially over the long middle part of the campaign, could win Atletico vital points as they chase another Liga title. Pragmatism and experience could well win out once things come to a head later on and silverware is up for winning and losing, but Torres should be looking to rack up in the region of 1,200 to 1,800 minutes of game time for Atleti this season.

If he manages that, he'll have taken a big step in convincing Simeone he can be part of the new wave of Atleti talent, ready to start more often when Gabi, Tiago and Garcia all eventually make way.

And he'll likely have shown the rest of Spain and Europe that combined with Griezmann, Vietto and Koke, the new-look Atletico are a far more exciting and dangerous offensive unit these days, without having lost a single ounce of the aggression and work rate which got them this far in the first place. 

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