Atletico Madrid Need Koke Back to Full Fitness and Form Post-International Break

Atletico Madrid's start to the season has been largely good, but they will still feel there are key improvements they can make to their form once domestic action resumes after the international break.

Sitting fifth in La Liga and with one win from two in the Champions League, Atleti don't have any major problems right now—but third or fourth shouldn't be the league target this year, and the same goes for comfortable progression to the knock-out stages in European competition.

One player who can be decisive in Atleti's improvement is midfielder Koke, who hasn't yet produced his best form this season and is currently recovering from a hamstring injury.

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Koke won't be back from injury in time for the derby tomorrow. Big loss, but he has the international break to fully recover now at least.

— AtléticoFans (@AtleticoFans) October 3, 2015"

Uneven start

Early in the season, despite performances of the team overall not being particularly brilliant, results were impressive.

Koke scored in the 3-0 destruction of Sevilla, which looked an outstanding three points on the second weekend of the season—but Sevilla's own start to the campaign turned out to be truly terrible, with that Atleti result being an early indicator in the end rather than a one-off triumph of one top side over another.

The 23-year-old had a tendency to do the simple things in those early weeks, keep shape narrow from the left and help win back possession, but not too much else—his set-pieces weren't attacked with particular gusto, there were fewer through passes from his side than Oliver Torres on the opposite flank and, overall, he just wasn't central to the team's play as he was last season.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

It shouldn't be a huge concern and he'll still be a key player once he returns, but he does need to improve his own game significantly—simply to levels he has done for the past two or three seasons, nothing new—to aid the team in turn.

Balance

Atleti's midfield without Koke is a little lacking in direction, compared to their usual style. The aggression is still there in part, but it's all a little deeper, a little later and a little less forceful than usual.

Part of that comes down to Diego Simeone's decision to move Antoine Griezmann back to one of the wider areas rather than start Saul regularly, keeping two other forwards in attack as a result, but also it's because Koke is simply the most naturally inclined to attack out of himself, Tiago and Gabi.

That pairing in the middle has been sitting deep in recent weeks, not pushing forward to support the front three or four, and as a result, Atleti haven't managed too many sustained periods of pressure in the final third.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

It's a lack of overall balance in the side which Atletico can do without right now, with too many of their offensive players not quite in tune yet.

Bringing Saul in may have helped somewhat—he was excellent against Villarreal—but Oliver Torres' own drop-off in form and effectiveness has also been a factor.

Changes

The return of Koke, should it come in the next match against Real Sociedad on October 18 or beyond that, gives Simeone two main options beyond simply slotting his midfielder back in on the left.

One would be to return to 4-3-3, which the team has done in spells this season rather than as a starting formation, to push Griezmann further forward—one of the wide front three rather than attacking from deep as he has been over the past two or three games, rather ineffectively.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Alternatively, Koke could straight-up replace Gabi in the centre, a talked-about option in the summer but one which was put on the back-burner to begin with.

Gabi started the season with a couple of good performances, but his erratic tendency to lose possession and concede fouls have resurfaced over the last month. He hasn't been near his 2014 self, and sooner or later that will cost him.

Atletico aren't a million miles away from the level they want to be playing at on a regular basis, but to reach those heights they need their top players right in form.

Koke certainly falls into that category and an improvement in his own confidence and standards on the pitch will naturally lead to a progression in Atleti's game, both in quality and in effectiveness.

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