José María Gímenez is one of the players most appreciated by Atlético fans. He’s the most reliable defender in the squad, he’s been wearing the red and white tunic for nine years now, he’s a leader on the field, a unifying element off the field, and above all, a lit guy just what it is necessary as we like them in the spans of the Metropolitano. Except that in mid-February during a match against Levante, “Josema” was the victim of the fury of his own fans.
A back pass as the team chase the score with ten minutes left, Parish mattress takes out the whistles, Gímenez tells him to shut up, and normal, it whistles even louder. Fifteen minutes later, Atlético lost 1-0 against the worst team in La Liga, finishing the match with no shots on target… Embarrassing defeat in a hostile atmosphere, Atleti hit rock bottom once and for all, we say to ourselves. “Six months ago, Atlético were champions, with a destructive first round and another of resistance. Today, Atlético is a bad patient, a victim of itself. A patient in intensive care for months” imaged the journalist Ruben Uría in the columns of Goal after this mortifying defeat against the last of La Liga.
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Antoine Griezmann
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In intensive care for months
Six months ago, everything seemed wonderful. Barely crowned with their title, the Madrid club seemed destined to conquer La Liga for the second time in a row, a first since 1951. The workforce was the best in its history. Unbalanced, of course – first of all, why did you bring Griezmann back? – but terribly seductive. And then there were the domestic rivals, each more in trouble than the other.
Six months later, Atlético is a field of ruins. Not once since August, Atlético has chained three good matches. Collectively, Simeone cannot find the formula. Playing in the opposing camp by giving life to the ball like during the best hours of the 2020-2021 epic, it does not work. Despite his countless attempts in recent seasons, Simeone is definitely not an excellent coach in creating an attacking animation cut for small spaces.
Too often, the team simply doesn’t know what to do. Logically, the Argentinian coach quickly returned to familiar ground (if the opponent allows him, which is not the case in many La Liga matches): a low block and banderillas in the wide open spaces. But here too, success has made a leap to the people of Madrid. Playing with Luis Suárez 60 meters from the opposing goals, you have to forget. Repeated to satiety in recent times, this observation remains unshakeable.
Luis Suarez (Atletico)
Credit: Getty Images
A management that asks questions
And then there are the individual questions. Koke is unrecognizable, Rodrigo de Paul is dying from game to game, Marcos Llorente is struggling with injuries, just like Griezmann since December, João Félix is mentally inconstant. Only the Carrascos, Correas and Cunhas are pulling the boat forward. These three are the real satisfactions of the season… if they play, of course. Because in the case of the last two, the coach surely establishes them less than they deserve. However, these are currently the only elements capable on their own of bringing energy, verticality and races without the ball.
In this matter of compositions, one sometimes wonders if Simeone does not have a clear bias: that of sparing egos and respecting hierarchies by placing his trust more readily in Suárez, Félix or Griezmann than in Cunha, just arrived, or Correa, always accustomed to being a shadow shooter. These debates about the occupation of the attack take place against an immovable backdrop, that of a defense in tatters. It must be said without trying to put on form: the defense of Atlético is anti-competitive as possible.
Koke during Atletico de Madrid – Mallorca in La Liga on December 4, 2021
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The defense in question
Between Hermoso, Felipe, Savic and Giménez, it’s at least one fatal error per match. Even Jan Oblak has lost his luster, visibly also marked by the constant insecurity present in the surroundings. Over the last five seasons, Atlético finished their championships with 26 goals conceded on average. This mark, the team exceeded it on January 22 already… It is up to 34 goals today; it is for example twice as much as Sevilla, second in the standings, more than Getafe, 15th, and as much as Elche, 13th. On set pieces, the bleeding is even more abundant: 8 goals conceded. A shame when you remember how much Atlético of the great years had built its domination on set pieces.
When providing explanations for this crash of 22, Simeone and the leaders prefer to unite. Their public statements are systematically populated by the ideas of trust, hard work and looking to the future. The press and the supporters, themselves, do not hesitate to assign the faults. Simeone is not always easy to follow in his coaching and in the choice of his men. This nightmarish, wasted, stillborn season is for him. But he is not the only culprit. Some warned about the problems of rojiblancos from the end of last season. There are injuries too: Griezmann, Llorente, Lemar, Wass, Cunha. Not to mention the departure of Trippier to Newcastle, nor the particularly lackluster managers on the transfer market. Central defense may be a permanent drama, but no defectors have arrived in this area this winter.
Jan Oblak (Athletic Madrid)
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Look to the future
In the offices of Andrea Berta, the sports director of Atlético, things must already be heating up in anticipation of this summer. Rejuvenation of the workforce, mass departures, reserved for Barça and Real, these broad terms have recently appeared in articles dealing with Atlético. And Simeone, is he in danger? Despite filtrations on alleged contacts in Berta and Pioli, and despite the wet dream of Jorge Mendes to place Nuno on the bench of the Metropolitano, there is at this stage no question of separating from El Cholo. Anyway, the season is not over and there are still goals to go for. “We had created the expectation of fighting for La Liga. As the results came in, that expectation was frustrated by our irregularity. Now we have set ourselves the objective of being as close as possible to the head” declared Ángel Correa on Tuesday in Brand. A polite way of saying that the objective is the top 4, on pain of nuclear disaster for a club which cannot afford to miss out on C1 money.
And what to expect from Atlético in C1?
These first four places, it will be necessary to fight blood and water to hang them so much the battle rages in the top of the classification. Real and Sevilla are far ahead, Betis are currently the best team in the country, Villarreal are in mode comeback, Barça devours the hearts of young people and it fuels them while Real Sociedad is in ambush. And in the Champions League then, what to expect?
In Europe, Simeone will bring out his good old recipe forever. Unload the weight of the game, wait, take refuge, frustrate the opponent and let go of the pack in the last quarter of the match. take from epic as they say in Spain, clinging to the inherently epic character of this club. In this sense, more than tactics, the management of emotions will play a key role against Manchester United (and Ronaldo).
If Atlético manages to play liberated, they have a chance. And to play liberated, Atlético must feel they have nothing to lose. This season in La Liga, in the quarters against Leipzig in 2020, against Juventus on the return in 2019, the status of favorite suits him terribly badly. Therefore, the Champions League could be an outlet for this group. A way to reconnect with himself as against Liverpool two years ago. A way to escape his sad reality too. Or to deny it… and to suffer the violent backlash.
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