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The Koke numbers at Atlético that almost nobody remembers
Borja Aranda revisits his seasons under Simeone, including one with 26 goal contributions
Borja Aranda presents Koke's statistics from the Simeone era
Borja Aranda argues that no Spanish midfielder matched Koke's goals and assists over several seasons, and backs it up figure by figure. 'El Club Uría' links it to the freedom Tiago and Gabi gave him.
Amid the debate over whether Koke has been underrated, Borja Aranda throws down a challenge: look up the data and you will not find a Spanish midfielder of such talent who managed Koke's goal and assist numbers over several seasons. Not even Iniesta, who had one year with close to 20 assists but could not sustain it.
Borja pulls out his numbers since Simeone's arrival: 3 goals and 12 assists in 2012-13; 7 goals and 19 assists the following season, 26 goal contributions in all; then 4 and 14, and after that 5 and 16. Remarkable figures.
On the 'El Club Uría' panel, the context is added: those were the years of Tiago as the holding midfielder, with Gabi and Mario Suárez holding the side together and Arda Turan around them, which gave Koke much more freedom to get forward from central midfield.