Ranking Atletico Madrid's Top 5 Players for January 2016
Atletico Madrid endured one of the busiest months of any big club in Europe in January, playing a mammoth nine matches over two competitions as they surrendered top spot in La Liga and were knocked out of the Copa del Rey.
In looking at the month as a whole, despite those two latest defeats to Celta Vigo and Barcelona, Atletico impressed as a squad, with several key performers showing tremendous form individually.
Here we rank Los Rojiblancos' five best players from January, taking into account their performances within manager Diego Simeone's altering tactical frameworks, their end product and what they contributed to each result. The games included for consideration were (Atletico score first):
1-0 vs. Levante, La Liga
1-1 vs. Rayo Vallecano, Copa del Rey
2-0 vs. Celta Vigo, Liga
3-0 vs. Rayo, Copa
3-0 vs. Las Palmas, Liga
0-0 vs. Celta, Copa
0-0 vs. Sevilla, Liga
2-3 vs. Celta, Copa
1-2 vs. Barcelona, Liga
5. Koke
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Over the course of the season so far, it's impossible that Koke could genuinely be entirely pleased with his performances. They have fluctuated, which is unusual for him for starters, but even his best displays have not been the all-controlling, metronomic source of inspiration for Atletico's attacks that they can be.
Even so, January was a step in the right direction for the versatile midfielder, as he put together several good displays, notably against Las Palmas and Celta.
Koke's end product inside the penalty box took a sharp upturn in January, too, as he laid on a couple of assists and scored the opener against Barcelona, a direct result of playing as one of the three furthest-forward players in recent matches.
4. Antoine Griezmann
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Antoine Griezmann has been a little quiet in general play for Atleti over the past couple of months, but his goal rate hasn't taken much of a hit.
Six goals in the nine games during January showed how important he remains to Los Colchoneros in terms of giving their dominance in many matches an actual, tangible reward, something that too many of the offensive players in the squad have been unable to do this term.
Griezmann has been posing the old question of what has more importance: overall good play, or consistent end product? His goals have been helping put points on the board, so for now it's the latter, but he is still capable of more.
3. Diego Godin
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One of the front-runners for first place until a moment of lunacy against Barcelona, Diego Godin has been hugely solid for Atletico over the past two months, even leading our weekly Liga Player Rankings charts for a period.
Aggressive, dominant and with clear organisational skills to direct the back four as a whole, Godin is of paramount importance to Atletico's title hopes, and it's no surprise that, until his red card at the weekend, he hadn't missed a single minute in La Liga this season.
A bizarre decision to slide-tackle Luis Suarez in a position of no danger, however, saw him sent-off and essentially ended any hopes his team had of taking a point at the Camp Nou, so it's third place for Godin.
2. Saul Niguez
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By far the most impressive of Atletico's numerous midfield options over the last month (and indeed previous to that), Saul has nailed down a spot in the first XI thanks to his consistency as much as his all-round quality.
Whether in his defensive work or in the attacking half of the field, Saul's tenacity and athleticism make him a fantastic weapon in Atleti's armoury, winning the ball back with vigour but also distributing it well and using his physicality to surge forward and get shots away in attack.
Ten Liga starts in a row is testament to his great form, as is the fact Simeone is adamant about putting him in the XI regardless of system—Saul has played as a holding midfielder, a central option with licence to break forward and also as a wide man.
1. Jan Oblak
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Atletico's top performer for January goes to Jan Oblak, the superb Slovenian who, until the match against Barcelona, hadn't conceded a single goal since before Christmas.
It's easy to say Oblak doesn't have much to do behind a defence containing Godin and Co., but it's also wrong to say that—even if he's called upon for two or three shots a game, his concentration and positioning is excellent to ensure he reacts when needed, and his penalty-box management often means that the number of shots he faces is reduced even further.
Oblak takes the ball in the air with great assurance and dominance, his distribution is good, and he directs those in front of him constantly.
Four clean sheets in January from five Liga games was down to Oblak in great part, and it's hardly cause for shame when the two names who broke that run were Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
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