Pros and cons of sending Oliver Torres on loan

Oliver has scored one goal and added three assists in 955 minutes of football distributed across 21 appearances. The canterano has seen game time in every game of the season except for five. Oliver made a stunning start to his season, when he made seven starts in the first eight league games, but his effect has begun to diminish as the season has progressed.

Pros

More minutes

The Academy player has improved with each spell on loan. His loan spell at Porto last year really had an effect on the player and he made a distinguishable leap in terms of his identity and what position he could be most effective from. In that respect, he became quite a different Oliver Torres. It is for this reason that perhaps a new assignment could make him the physically and mentally mature player that Cholo wants.

Productivity

He showed last year in Porto that, with regularity, he is a player who also brings productivity. In Portugal, he got seven goals and six assists and this is something Simeone possibly misses from the Porto version of Oliver Torres. While scoring goals is not something that is a necessity for someone like Torres, it would certainly help to improve him as a player and Atletico as a squad and a loan spell might help to improve this area of his play.

Cons

Quality of minutes

Simeone always talks about the quality of minutes as opposed to the amount of minutes for Torres. If something is missing in Oliver, it is minutes in important games and if there is one place he can get them, that place is Atletico. It is during these kinds of matches when the personality of a player appears and Oliver needs to show he has quality and a good enough attitude to merit time in the Colchoneros team.

Unique profile

Torres is unique in his kind and there isn't another player with his profile in the squad. He has the ability to pause the game, hold the ball and also knows how to find the strikers in tight spaces like few midfielders can. This seems to be a trait that could benefit Torres' chances of playing more time as the staff now want to hold more possession and break down defenses in this manner.

Adaptation to Atleti

Oliver has already proven his quality in big teams like Porto and Villarreal, but has failed to fully adapt to the style of play that Atletico espouse. There is a saying in Spain that the stonemason seems determined to succeed with the computer on which he grew up, but Oliver needs to show greater flexibility and show Simeone that he can play well in any position that he is picked to play in. It is clear that the only way to achieve this is to continue playing at the Vicente Calderon.

Losing Oliver Torres after such a fine season last year and such a bright start to this season would be huge. If he is not getting enough good quality opportunities, however, a loan spell might be the best option. He seems to be struggling for confidence at the moment and with Simeone and Atletico facing into a pivotal moment of their season, they don't have time to ease him back into game in order to solely boost his confidence.