Francisco Montero Rubio – Atletico Madrid’s ball-playing centre-back
Francisco Javier Montero Rubio could be known as Francisco Montero or as Javi Montero Rubio as the young Spaniard has the choice of being called by his first name or by his middle name as well as having the same choice with his two last names. Atletico Madrid have a wealth of defensive prospects as Montero is returning from a loan spell with Deportivo La Coruna while Neuhen Perez is returning from a more successful loan spell with Familicao in Portugal. The young Andalusian defender had been training with Atletico Madrid first team for two years before his loan spell making 14 appearances, 7 of them as a starter including an opportunity in a Europa League semi-final against Arsenal.
The 21-year-old centre-back experienced relegation after choosing a loan to Deportivo La Coruna in a side that he believed could have challenged for the playoff places in the Segunda Liga as he chose to join the formerly storied Spanish club for their illuminating history in La Liga and Europe. However, the relegation should not be a stain on his young career as he managed to have some encouraging performances in the Segunda Liga establishing himself as a progressive ball-playing left sided centre-back. He will now have to tussle for a starting place under the demanding Diego Simeone with ample competition for two defensive places.
Germany has long been touted as a destination for him as his style would suit the Bundesliga while giving him the opportunity to develop the finer points of his game. Him playing for Atletico Madrid under Simeone would be interesting as he is a ball-playing centre-back who enjoys beating his man and driving into the midfield line to play deep passes through tight passing lanes in the centre while he could thrive in defending in a higher line. Simeone’s side is undergoing a metamorphosis as Montero could be a key component in a change of style while improving his defensive resolve under the Argentine’s tutelage.
At Deportivo, Montero’s ability in possession truly shone in a back three and a back four as he would normally play as wide left-sided centre-back in a back three. When receiving possession, he would always look to dribble past the attacker directly pressing him to earn a yard of space and attract pressure from the second line to play a pass through the lines. Montero would thrive in a possession-based system as his first instinct when he receives possession is always to drive forward to engage an attacker to pressure him to create even the smallest crevice of a passing lane as the young centre-back would masterfully thread the ball through that lane with pace and direction.
At times, he does not push forward to attract pressure but rather to allow one of his teammates in a higher position to drop into space in order to work a pass for the attacker to lay off to a teammate. Away to Almeria in the season, he allowed the ball to roll across his body to push it forward with his left foot as Deportivo’s attacker will drop out of the nine space to receive possession in between the lines to lay-off. A few minutes later, he received the ball from the keeper as he faked a pass before turning back as the opposition pushed up to pressure him while his teammates dropped back as passing options. He then rolled the ball under his foot to push forward as an opposition attacker pushed forward to engage him to play a pass-through tight lines of pressure and into the nine space. Montero beat six players with one pass with this piece of distribution.
As a centre-back, Javi Montero Rubio can drive the ball forward with his immense vision and incredible passing ability as well as his ability to dribble and drive the ball which is high-level for a defender with his age and experience. A loan spell in the Segunda Division is great preparation for a ball-playing defender as Pau Torres gained experience with Malaga the season before after they lost the playoffs to coincidentally, Deportivo La Coruna. He then became a starter with his parent club, Villareal parlaying it into a Spanish National Team callup as the Atletico Madrid defender could follow suit with a loan to a La Liga club next season if he does not manage to earn a first team place with Atletico Madrid.
In a match against Las Palmas last season he played the ball down the left channel to his wing-back before the ball was worked back to him to control the ball with his left foot to push the ball forward before playing a switch ball to the right flank which beat six men and two lines of pressure to put the right wing-back in 1v1 situation before he slipped and fell. Later in the game, Deportivo La Coruna was defending in a 5-3-2 shape as Montero was playing touch tight to his marker as he pushed up with the opposition attacker for the central centre-back to intercept a pass into that lane to play it to Deportivo’s attacker who laid it off for Montero to take a brilliant directional first touch to push the ball to the wider areas to flick his hips before working a pass into the midfield line to beat two opposition attackers.
Montero is a high-line defender as he prefers to push up and play touch tight to his marker having the physicality to regain possession in the counter-press while he has the vision to work the ball into attacking situations to put his team on the front foot. Playing in a back three has allowed Montero to improve his ability to defend the wide areas. If he is facing a pacy attacker in the wide areas, he hems him into tight quarters, forcing an attacker to the by-line before lunging to make a tackle and regain possession for his side. He could also push up to cover spaces when his side are in their defensive shape to make tackles as he prefers to win possession and lunge into tackles with his left foot. Away to Las Palmas, a pass was played to the centre and he moved inside from the left flank to make a well-timed challenge on the attacker.
Montero’s ability to work passes through the lines is special because of his directional first touch as he controls the ball to allow himself to set his feet before working a pass through the lines. Against Mirandes, a clearance was played into the Deportivo box as the ball bounced to the keeper with Montero chasing the ball back to the keeper with his back to play with a marker behind him as he trapped the ball brilliantly with his left foot to turn away from his marker before playing a pass to the flank. At home to Huesca, he received the ball with his right foot to play a pass to the six-space with his left before the ball was eventually played back to the keeper who rolled the ball to Montero’s feet for the centre-back to push up to attract pressure before threading a pass past two attackers to the six-space to disorient the opposition pressing shape.
Montero’s ability to break lines with his passing as well as his fearlessness with the ball at his feet could make him one of the better left sided centre-backs in La Liga. His shorter and longer distribution would allow him to add another dimension to a more progressive attacking sides’ play while he has also shown that he is proficient at defending in a higher line. He has his ball-playing abilities meshed with Simeone’s defensive teachings which could lead to him having a good career. He is still only 21-years-old but should be on the shortlist of many European clubs for a loan this summer if he does not manage to make it into Atletico Madrid’s first team.
