Hey Rojiblancos hope you’re on cloud nine as we are leading the La Liga table after Matchday 3 and also we have taken lead over our rivals Real Madrid by 4 points and FC Barcelona by 5 points before heading to the international break.

Today I have a guest author – Mr. Jonathan Kjeldsen taking over my blog for a special article about the post match analysis and how our players performed against Eibar.

Player Ratings :

Jan Oblak:

Another okay-ish match by Mr. Reliable’s standards. You can’t really blame Oblak for the first goal, the whole situation was kind of awkward. In my opinion you really can’t blame him for the second one either, a hard shot followed up by a big deflection.

In general, he was okay when called upon, also a reliable option for the defenders if they were in trouble.

Rating: 6

Mario Hermoso

In pre-season we saw glimpse of Mario’s brilliance, unfortunately he started off on the wrong foot last weekend. Sadly, it wasn’t a lot better this time around. In general, a lot of things he did seemed extremely rushed, of course this could also be a product of missing communication. Especially some headers, where he had the time to bring it down, were launched away.

Bad clearances kind of summed up his game, I know it’s probably a little harsh, but their second goal was kept alive by you guessed it… a bad clearance from Mario.

BUT credit where its due, because it wasn’t all bad from Mario. Some of his long balls where pinpoint, and also the defensive side of his game was relatively stable.

Rating: 4.5

José Gimenéz

A similar performance to the one of Jan Oblak. For the most part he was good, with glimpse of what’s to come with Josema. A times it looked like he could you use a Savic besides him. Also, the communication between the two stoppers, weren’t great, but hopefully that will develop through time.

Rating: 6

Renan Lodi (MOTM)

Wow just wow… I don’t know how he does it, but he keeps on being either the best or the worst player on the pitch, and today he certainly was the best. First of all, what a bargain he can turn out to be, if he keeps up these kinds of performances up. Secondly his first touches are insane, I think he made three of those insane touches, where he rounded 2-3 men, one of which ended up in being vital for the assist he made.

On the defensive side of his game, he was what he needed to be. Not particularly eye-catching, but most definitely solid.

Rating: 9

Kieran Trippier

Trippier was fine today, not on the level of the two previous matchdays, but still a respectably high level.

Actually, I found him being almost better on the defensive side of his game than the offensive side of his game.

Of course, having Morata on top makes crossing a whole lot easier, though he still managed to pick out costa a couple of times. He was as always also participative in buildup play.

All in all a solid game from Kieran Trippier.

Rating: 6

Marcos Llorente

To be honest I didn’t see a whole lot from Marcos Llorente this game. Of course, he had his moments, but they were far between. In all fairness there is a lot of pressure on him to perform, with his tight battle Thomas. Tonight, just wasn’t his night.

Rating: 5

Thomas Lemar

Once again Thomas Lemar failed to really make an impact.

The potential is there for everyone to see. His technical as well as his passing ability is outstanding, but he often lacks decision-making.

Rating: 5

Saúl Ñiguéz

Saul really provided some drive into an otherwise passive midfield, with deep progressions and some nice raids up the field. Perhaps one could make an argument for him being deployed a little to far back.

When Thomas brought the score line to 3-2, Saúl’s passionate celebration afterwards really showed his love towards the club, and as a big fan of the club, it really warmed my heart.

Rating: 7

Koke

I must say that Koke has been phenomenal from the start of this campaign, and he certainly carried the momentum into this game. He looked like a real leader out there on the field, and really dictated the flow of the game.

Rating: 6.5

João Félix

Even though he scored a goal, I actually thought that this was his worst game in an Atletico shirt (Maybe apart from the one vs Numancia). When Morata gets back from injury, I think he might take up the right flank again (or a number 10 role in offense) in which he played in pre-season. Even though he was deployed as a striker, 26 touches are still way off the amount we want to see him on the ball. Hopefully he will blossom on the right-hand side.

Rating: 6.5

Diego Costa

Coming back from injury Diego Costa did well. Despite missing a chance in the first half, the beast fought for every ball and provided an assist to Félix. If he stays fit throughout the season he could be a vital player in winning the league.

Rating: 7.5

Vitolo

Replaced Llorente in the second half and it took him only seven minutes to equalise for Atléti. After starting the pre-season strongly, the Canary born player has been impressive. Atlético are reaping the benefits of a fit Vitolo.

Rating: 8

Thomas Partey

No Thomas No Partey!

The Ghanian once again proved he is one of the best midfielders around. Came on late in the match and made sure Atlético grabbed all 3 points. This man definitely needs a new contract.

Rating: 9

Rodrigo Riquelme

The kid made his senior team debut. Cholo patted on his head twice to motivate him and he did pretty well and came close to scoring of a difficult chance just swooshing wide of the cross-bar.

Rating: 6

— By Jonathan Kjeldsen

Are you a Rojiblanco and would like to be a guest author? If so, send a mail to: imraj100a@gmail.com