Player Focus: Villa Adding a New Dimension to Atleti's Attack

He’s seen by many as Spain’s greatest ever striker, and despite his 31-years of age is still one of the most feared strikers in European football. So, when Atlético Madrid announced they’d signed David Villa from FC Barcelona for a fee that would total a maximum of €5.1m, there was great surprise.

Whatever issues there were with Villa at Barcelona that forced his sale: competition for places, an agreed increase in salary or decline due to age, selling him for such a slender amount was a very naïve thing to do. Atleti of course will have no complaints, especially having lost their main man Rademel Falcao in attack.

Villa isn’t by any means a replacement for Falcao, and can’t really bring many of the attributes the Colombian brought to the team or the 43% proportion of Atleti’s goals that he scored in La Liga last season. If anything, he’s another dimension for Diego Simeone’s team and an outlet they didn’t have before. Someone experienced, someone able to drive in from the left flank. The two things they do have in common are goals, and while it seems unlikely Villa will be as prolific the idea by Atleti is to spread the goals around the team with the striker chipping in more than most.

It’s why we’ve seen someone like Léo Baptistão come in. Again, by no means prolific, but with the ability to grow as a player and weigh in with his fair share. Baptistão managed 7 goals last season, in between several spells on the sidelines with injury. The former Rayo Vallecano man did bring in 6 assists though, which is another statistic vital to his move as he’ll combine with Atleti’s forward line and offer a different dimension to unhinging defences. Against the more robust and organised teams, Atleti struggled, and with the combination of Villa and Baptistão they add different angles to attack from.

For the sum of €5.1m, albeit with just €2.1m of that up front initially, Villa will bring a whole new world of options to Atleti. Even with restricted playing time and a constant recovery from injury across the course of last season, the 31-year-old still managed to weigh in with 10 goals in 17 starts and 11 substitute appearances. His efficiency remained ripe in front of goal too, and though there was a lack of pace in his game due to injury, and a loss of mobility, he still knew where the target was. Of every player to fire away 40+ attempts on goal, Villa had the best shot accuracy (55.5%) in La Liga last season. In terms of actually hitting the back of the net, his 1 goal every 142 minutes was only bettered by seven players to have played more than ten games in the entire league.

This signing has Champions League connotations too, with Atleti returning to the biggest stage they needed someone with experience in the field. Few performers come bigger, as Villa has shown with his involvement in more goals than any other Spanish forward in the last 10 Champions League seasons with 14 goals and 6 assists.

Away from the goal scoring side of things, Villa will also provide more connectivity and a definition point to Atleti’s attack. While he’s not necessarily a creative force like Arda Turan, he’s someone with more nous in and around the penalty area to provide a devastating end product. He also weighed in with five assists, acknowledging the associative side of the game and bringing that ability to unlock a defence from a standstill. 

His trademark of driving in from the left side will be vital for Atleti, and because of his insistency to go inside it will allow Filipe Luis to continue galloping down the left wing from full-back. This was such an important part of Atleti’s build-up when not on the counter, as it stretched the play and removed pressure from the central areas. Koke’s assist total of 9 was testament to him being allowed the freedom of an alternate playmaker role through the middle. He still cropped up out wide too, and with 2.2 accurate crosses per game was the most efficient on the team in this area.

Villa’s work on the counter will be vital too, and rather than his legs and running providing penetration in Atleti’s notoriously direct transitions, it will be key intelligence and decision making that will be crucial. In Diego Costa, and now Baptistão, there are two players unpredictable in their usage of possession. With Villa, you know what you’re going get. 

At both Valencia and Real Zaragoza he was as destructive in his build-up play as finishing, offering the ability to play in a teammate with a pass between defenders and allowing his side to gain several yards on the opponents. The Atleti move might well prove to be a revitalisation of the old Villa that we haven’t seen as much, if ever, at Barcelona. The move to the Catalans was another step, a chapter in his career, a progression as a player, but the old values that made Villa who he was at Zaragoza and Valencia might well shine again.

This in turn means the devilish drives in from the left side, ghosting in between centre-backs with an efficient usage of energy, as well as starting moves from deep.

Atleti’s move is not only astute but extremely progressive. That Villa was on the market and available for so cheap is merely coincidental, and is a bonus for Atleti. They’ve achieved the signing of a player with a proven track record, yet still with a point to prove all the doubters wrong.