Vietto's Form Means Jackson Martinez Needs Big Impact for Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid secured their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 as group winners on Tuesday night as they beat Benfica 2-1 in Lisbon to end the group stage ahead of their Iberian rivals.
The progression to the knockout stage has been an expected one for Diego Simeone's team, but an impressive one also in some regards; they conceded only against Benfica in the group phase and ended top thanks to Luciano Vietto's second half goal in Lisbon, having been defeated by the same opponents in Madrid earlier in the year.
The defence has never been a concern for Atleti, though. Instead, it is in attack where consistency is being sought. The recent run of form from several attackers suggests a solution is much closer, and that could spell trouble for big-money summer signing Jackson Martinez—close to a return from injury but struggling to fit in at Los Rojiblancos this season.
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Early struggles
Despite joining in pre-season training later than some of his team mates, Jackson was given the nod to start the campaign as one of the first-choice strikers by Simeone.
He was subbed off reasonably early in his first games—around the hour mark—but made a big impact when coming on as a substitute against Sevilla, holding the ball up well, leading the counter-attack and scoring a thumping first goal for the club.
Since then, it has been a continual struggle for the Colombian to find his place; rotation has meant he rarely gets the full 90 minutes—just twice this season so far—and he isn't showing too many signs of gelling well with Antoine Griezmann.
His touch is off the pace, his movement is not in accordance with the team's overall progression from defending to attacking and he certainly hasn't displayed the killer finish inside the penalty box seen at Porto.
In 15 games, just shy of 800 minutes of game time, Jackson has just three goals so far for Atletico.
They needed him, while the younger signings got to grips with the club and continued to improve as individuals, to hit the ground running. It hasn't happened, and now he's in danger of being overtaken while sidelined through injury.
Competition
The most direct competition for Jackson's place in the team is Fernando Torres; the two have largely time-shared the second striker role this season, one replacing the other and neither finding the back of the net regularly—but their finishing is the only similarity, in truth.
Perhaps Atleti's biggest club icon, Torres continues to endear himself to the fans with his tremendous work ethic, no shortage of skill on the ball and a resilience to opposition defenders' challenges. The No. 9 has only netted twice this season—frustratingly stuck on 99 club goals for two-and-a-half months now—but his all-round play is of a far higher standard than Jackson has managed.
Angel Correa initially looked ready for action and had a big impact early in the season, but he has tailed off and is waiting for another chance—as is usual with a raw, young forward—but Luciano Vietto has recently showed signs that his own touch, awareness and sharpness levels are almost back to normal.
Vietto had a poor start to the season, much like Jackson, but since returning from surgery, he has been a more confident-looking player...and it was he, of course, who scored the goal to seal Atleti's passage as group winners in the end—his third goal of the season.
It is Vietto who is quickly emerging as the latest threat to Jackson's place, and the latter has now missed six consecutive games since being injured on international duty.
Title push, goals imperative
There remains time for one player to make a standout case to be Antoine Griezmann's regular partner. While Simeone fluctuates between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 to make up for the loss of Tiago in midfield, chances will come and go for the other forwards to feature—but the suspicion must be that a regular, reliable source of goals would be a welcome addition.
After the French forward's haul of 11 goals this season, three is the next highest tally in the squad: Vietto and Jackson, along with midfielder Saul.
To genuinely look to lift the La Liga trophy once again or trouble the biggest sides in Europe in the last four, or the final itself, Atleti need someone other than Griezmann who can tuck away the chances that fall their way.
Jackson can still rediscover his scoring touch to become that player, but the signs are that he'll need to do it quickly to still play a huge part in the season, with plenty of positional rivals looking ready to make their own mark.
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