Over the course of July and August, Atlético Madrid assembled the most eclectic squad of the Simeone era to date, in what was a clear changing of approach from the shot callers at the Calderón.
After a hangover season for los Colchoneros, who, as expected, failed to defend their title of 2013-14, it was evident that the club would need to formulate a new plan if they were to return to the summit of Spanish football. And following the conclusion of the summer transfer period, it seemed as if they had secured the chips they needed to launch a renewed assault on Real Madrid and Barcelona.
However, nine games into the new campaign, Atlético have already been defeated three times, with two of them coming at the usually bulletproof Calderón. But more so than results at such an early stage, the more profound concern has been the team’s struggle to unload their new found wealth of ammunition.
In their most recent game against Real Madrid, we saw further signs of star players being inhibited. For long stretches in a game where Atlético were chasing, Antoine Griezmann – the club’s unassailable superintendent – spent an unhealthy amount of time with an eye on the protection of his full back, sacrificing attacking expression for rigidity. The 24-year-old would remain on the periphery of the game throughout; one they needed him the most in.
Ángel Correa, the club’s new injector of youthful attacking zest, also found himself marooned far from his optimal areas of play for large portions of the contest. Playing as a second striker to Fernando Torres, the Argentine remained the liveliest of Atlético’s crop, but the overawing feeling was that he had been held back by a duty to defend in the same capacity as his other teammates. By the 59th minute, Simeone’s most effective attacking weapon was substituted; out of fuel for the night.
The defensive demand of his attacking players hasn’t only been an issue in the big fixtures, either. Even against newly promoted Las Palmas – who played with a reinforced, face-saving 5-3-2 system themselves – Atlético persisted with an overzealously cautious approach of their own when out of possession, making sure every man was behind the ball. They would eventually squeak a 1-0 win at the Calderón, thanks to a deflected Griezmann free kick.
Now, such demands have always been on his players, and it has brought them great success. But Diego Simeone’s palette of options is evolving – perhaps more so than ever before. Atlético were incessantly bold in the transfer market; collating an array of attacking tools that would seemingly have them covered for a wide scale of eventualities. That type of audacity is yet to correlate on the field though, and the sense of under-application is starting to become tangible.
Taking issue with Simeone’s demands does feel somewhat like sacrilege, given how it has changed Atlético’s standing in world football. But as much as ‘Cholo’ craves for his team to remain the underdog, and thus prolong their backs-to-the-wall approach, the reality is that his playing squad has been injected with some 80 million euros worth of talent over the summer (most of it attack-leaning), and that type of expression has not even nearly emerged on the pitch.
It comes as no surprise that Atlético’s best two performances of the season to date came away from home, at Sevilla and Galatasaray. It is there, in those hostile arenas against sizable challenges – where the scope to mix things up is granted – that Simeone’s men thrive. Taking the game to their opponents back on home soil, or where they are expected to establish and maintain the front foot, however, is proving a thorn in the side of this transitioning team.
Simeone coined the term ‘partido a partido’ in their title-winning season of 2013-14, in reference to treating each game as its own final and being non-discriminatory of each opponent. Evidently, it has served them very well and seen them build towards targets that were deemed inconceivable for a long time. However, the Atlético of then and the Atlético of now is markedly different. With their unexpected success, every corner of the club has developed; changing the dynamic of their tasks, and heightening responsibilities as a product, even if Simeone remains coy in regards to their modus operandi (he claims their real competitors are Valencia and Sevilla, not the big two).
Of course, it’s merely a method of containing expectation. Atlético and Simeone want to be the champions of Spain again – as soon as possible – but utilising many recurring themes of the dogged approach from 2013-14 with the current, more nuanced crop of players doesn’t appear to be doing them many favours at present.
After a summer in which all the talk on incomings revolved around how they would adapt to Atlético and Simeone, maybe the time is coming to experiment with some role reversal in the interest of maximising their individual stamp on games.
About the author – Jamie Kemp
Jamie is a freelance sportswriter, who writes on English and Spanish varieties of football in the main. He is also the creator of the popular blog El Rondo; a spot where you can find regular musings on the world of La Liga.
twitter: @jamiekemp
