After passing against Granada, Marcos Llorente's goals and assists stats this season have reached 8, 27 appearances, 8 goals and 8 assists, Marcos Llorente looks more like an attacker than a midfielder, in his second season with Atletico, Marcos Llorente's performance has been rising, in the La Liga top scorer list, Llorente has the highest number of goals of all midfielders, and the number of assists is the most for all La Liga players In the German-turned La Liga player value list, Marcos Llorente's value has risen by 25 million euros, and now it has reached 45 million euros, from the back to the center-back, full-back, forward and even the forward, the player who once sat on the bench at Real Madrid has become one of the brightest stars in the entire La Liga arena.
The Champions League second leg clash between Atletico and Liverpool on 12 March last year was a turning point in Llorente's career, and in the previous summer transfer window, Llorente had just left Real Madrid to join Atletico Madrid in search of a career predicament. But during Atletico's tenure as a defender, Llorente's performance was not ideal, and public opinion marked a huge question mark on his future. However, few people think that in the Champions League life-and-death battle with defending champions Liverpool, Llorente's offensive potential is fully exploded, he helped Atletico eliminate Liverpool with two wonderful long-range shots, and he himself became Atletico's hero.
Llorente was well received during his time at Alaves, relying on his good performance in offensive and defensive conversion and pass scheduling during his tenure as a defender, and public opinion praised Llorente's play style with guardiola's shadow, and Llorente also got the opportunity to return to Real Madrid. In the FIFA Club World Cup final in December 2018, Llorente scored from a distance to help Real Madrid beat Al Ain 4-1. After the match, Llorente was voted the best player in the final. However, this was only one of llorente's few highlight moments at the Bernabeu, where modric, Kroos and Casemiro had left Llorente with no room to live at Real Madrid, especially since Zidane did not like to use him. But after Atletico's re-entry, Llorente was a great success, and he is regarded by many as one of the best midfielders in la Liga in the future, and is also expected to become the pillar of the Spanish national team.
Despite being from the back, Marcos Llorente's technical characteristics are certainly not a traditional defensive midfielder. He has stature, strength, speed, physical conditions in the Spanish midfielder belongs to a more prominent category, at the same time he has a strong desire to attack, has a good dribbling ability to control the ball, the back of the attack can often bring a great threat. During Solari's time at Real Madrid, Llorente exemplified his characteristics in this regard, and at Atletico, Llorente's energy was released, and people gradually realized that Llorente was not just a "defensive midfielder with offensive ability", but an all-round midfielder who could bring more all-round midfielders to the team through dribbling, running, shooting and steals. Moreover, compared to Atletico's two midfielders, Cork and Saul, Llorente's playing style is sharper and more able to bring direct help to the attack, and his height, speed and offensive desire make the opponent feel more deadly threat.
Marcos Llorente's most recent goals have been unique. The match against Granada progressed into the second half, with Llorente picking up Koke's straight ball near the penalty area and dribbling a few times laterally with his left foot; against Alaves, Llorente scored again in the way he was good at, he received a pass from his teammate on the counter-attack and took the ball in a big stride to get rid of the defender's entanglement, and his left foot shot from outside the box almost copied the goal against Liverpool; against Real Sociedad, Llorente followed up in the penalty area melee without adjusting the left foot blast to break the goal; the match against Valladolid, Llorente completed a one-handed goal in a way that was completely close to the forward, he received a header assist from Trippier and drove straight into the box, facing the goalkeeper's calm push to break the goal, Llorente's excellent combination of human ball and body control, as well as a good sense of the ball were vividly reflected in these goals. In the Spanish match with the Netherlands in November, Llorente made his debut in the 72nd minute in the 72nd minute as another matador international in the family, following his father Paco Llorente, his maternal grandfather Ramón-Grosso and his uncle Paco Hunto, from the confused period when he was abandoned by Real Madrid and could not find a place at Atletico to the star in La Liga today, Llorente has spent a fantastic season.
At the World Cup in Russia, the Spanish team continued to adhere to the ball-based play, and the midfield composed of Isco, Thiago, Cork and others took the initiative in possession, but fell into the quagmire of not being able to give the opponent a direct blow. After the World Cup, the Spanish team was reformed several times, and Enrique established a more emphasis on speed, strength and impact. In fact, even in the heyday of Spanish football, midfielders such as Xavi and Iniesta were more known for possession and dribbling, and Spain's goals still depended more on the personal ability of Villa and Torres. Possession is basic, but the element of strength, speed and impact must be added, which seems to be the key to Spain's success in the competition.
From the current point of view, the Spanish team's emphasis on strength and speed will not change in the short term, and Llorente will also be very useful in the national team, because he can dribble, defend, have a large range of movement, and also have the ability to run, which is very much in line with Enrique's tactical thinking. More than a decade ago, Spain once had a number of midfielders who were good at scoring goals, such as Baraja and Mendieta, and now compete for the main position of the national team, and Llorente has a chance with Rodri, Fabian Luiz, Saul, Canales and so on. At the beginning of his time with Atletico, Llorente was seen as a substitute for Rodri who joined Manchester City, but now Llorente has taken a very different path, he is no longer a typical Spanish back in front of the center-back, scheduling the ball, and occasionally inserting assists, but a star player who plays more freely and can bring threats to opponents through personal ability.
In recent years, Spanish players like Llorente are rare, and before the Xavi Iniesta era, Spain was more of a traditional double-back tactic, consisting of a double back composed of people such as Baraja, Albelda or Alonso, and in the front, mainly relying on wingers to create offensive threats. However, at present, Enrique has more types of players, both Felan Torres, Llorente, Asensio and other more comprehensive players, as well as the traditional "little quick players" Fati, Oyasavar, and the good at running Rodrigo, Olmo, especially the emergence of Llorente, may bring new vitality to the Spanish midfield, he can adapt to multiple positions, can be in the middle, can be forward and backward, running diligently and dribbling forward, shooting means of a variety of characteristics, It will make Spain's midfield more sharp and lethal. (Santiago-Wang)