Player Focus: Giménez Form Calling Miranda's Right to Start for Atletico into Question

When regular first-choice Miranda was injured on international duty with Brazil in November, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone had no qualms about putting in 19-year-old Jose Maria Giménez, and the teenager has responded with a string of excellent performances.

Giménez’s most eye-catching moment was his first senior goal - a spectacular strike following a clever corner routine in a 2-0 Liga win at Elche - which also brought about a second appearance in WhoScored.com’s La Liga team of the week.

But Simeone will likely have been most impressed by the superbly disciplined defending display four days later at Juventus in the Champions League - when Giménez and partner Diego Godín completely snuffed out Fernando Llorente and company to secure the clean sheet which secured a point and top spot in their group. 10 clearances, 4 aerial duels won and 3 shots blocked contributed to a rating of 8.06 and the man of the match award.

Giménez has now played six games for Atletico this season, and during that time the team has conceded just one goal. He has been a key contributor to that record - and is now the highest-rated player within the reigning champions’ squad, with a 7.7 overall rating. His 7.82 average mark in La Liga makes him the third best of all players [behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi] in Spain. Godín has a decent average of 7.34, but Miranda is trailing well back at 6.97.

Giménez’s statistics show an all-round, no-nonsense defender, without any appreciable weaknesses. On average, across the league and Champions League, he has made 1.7 tackles per game, with 2.2 interceptions, 3.3 aerial challenges won, 4.5 clearances and 1.3 blocks. A pass completion rate of 87.6% also shows composure on the ball, while 3.5 accurate long balls per game suggests he does not over-complicate matters when in possession. Just one yellow card and three fouls in total during 540 minutes also demonstrates a calmness and confidence at this level.

Meanwhile, Miranda, who after starring as Atletico won the title last year was linked with a big money move to teams including Manchester United and Barcelona during the summer, has had a difficult time this season. Despite finally breaking into the Brazil side under new coach Dunga, his displays at club-level have been well below those of last term. The now 30-year-old’s stats of just 1 interception per game in La Liga, 3.5 clearances, 0.5 blocks and 2.3 aerial challenges won are all significantly lower than Giménez’s numbers.

Most worrying though for Miranda [and presumably for Simeone] have been regular losses in concentration, and standout contributions to his side’s worst moments of the season so far. In a strange quirk he scored three goals in his first five games - but his form has gone right off the boil since then.

Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to Villarreal brought another error - a miscontrol of a ball near the halfway line, which could have lead to a goal conceded only for Godín and keeper Miguel Angel Moya between them to clean up the mess. Similarly, his last club game before injury was [co-incidentally or not] also Atletico’s last defeat, and a misplaced back pass sent Real Sociedad’s Imanol Agirretxe racing clear, with Godín forced into an almost miraculous last-ditch clearance. Atletico’s other La Liga defeat, at Valencia in early October, saw a Miranda own-goal amid a shocking overall performance [5.86 rating].

So it seems now only a matter of time before Giménez joins his fellow Uruguayan Godín as a regular first choice in the team. The teenager, who joined Atletico in the summer of 2013 from his first club Danubio, already performed excellently alongside his clubmate in three games at last summer’s World Cup. He also showed how quickly he's growing up, by becoming a father for the first time on Friday night too.

Pretty startlingly, Giménez is not the only young Uruguayan defender on Atletico's books who has been winning rave reviews in La Liga this season. Emiliano Velázquez, 20, was signed last summer [also from Danubio] and then sent immediately on loan to Getafe – where he has been playing almost as well, if at lower profile.

Velázquez has a 7.37 rating through 10 games so far for Getafe, making him the 19th highest-rated player in the division. Just Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos [7.69], Valencia’s Nicolas Otamendi [7.48] and Madrid’s Pepe [7.41] have a better overall rating so far among defenders who have played more than the average number of minutes.

A quick-gelling centre-back partnership with fellow summer arrival Naldo, has seen Getafe’s defence look much more solid, and the team move into a pretty safe mid-table position. Velázquez is now averaging 4.4 tackles a game, with 3.8 interceptions, 4.8 clearances, 1 block and 2.3 aerial challenges won. He was again outstanding in the goalless draw at home to Barcelona on Saturday - with six tackles, four interceptions, five clearances and three shots blocked as blaugrana centre-forward Luis Suarez was well shackled throughout. Such displays have already brought senior international recognition too – with Velázquez making his full debut in October's friendly in Saudi Arabia.

Velázquez is set to stay at Getafe for the rest of the season, but is likely to return to Atletico next term. He will then join former clubmate Giménez and Godín [still just 28] as the third Uruguayan centre-back at the Estadio Vicente Calderon. The future looks pretty bright defensively for both their club and country.

Should Giménez be ahead of Miranda in the Atletico Madrid pecking order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below