Atletico Madrid: At a Crossroads

Atlético Madrid are at a crossroads. Not exactly what you’d expect to, or want to be saying after a first title win in 7 years, but it feels necessary. In fact, it’s the title win itself that’s led to such a conversation.

It’s almost universally accepted that Atélti are perennially third, behind the ‘Big Two’ in Barcelona and Real Madrid. Some feel that they’re there through complacency, others feel they have placed themselves there almost strategically - lying in waiting for the perfect moment to strike and announce a new era of La Liga dominance. Last season it felt like they were handed a crack at the top, and whether or not they took that chance lies not in the trophy they received on that final day in Valladolid, instead it lies in what sort of plan they’ve conjured up for the future.

Source: en.atleticodemadrid.com

We must once again, unfortunately, have that conversation about Atléti’s style of play. A style of play that is combative, passion-fuelled, deceptively engrossing and perfectly encompasses it’s architect, Diego Simeone. It’s also a style that many deem outdated, too inconsistent and pragmatic for today's game.

The fact of that matter is, that it serves the fundamental purpose of a teams style of play: entertaining it’s fans. The fans that work all week to find their escape in the state-of-the-art Wanda Metropolitano, and when the weekend comes, whatever the weather, they turn up in their thousands with just one desire: to sing for a team that gives to them, what they give to it.

Source: marca.com

If such a romantic, idealistic and possibly blinkered view of what a football club should be still exists in the modern game, Atletico Madrid appear to be the embodiment of it. Whether or not ‘entertained’ is the correct word, on the most part it seems Atlélti fans are fulfilled by this style of play, accepting its downsides as part of the ‘Pupas’ curse, and treating the wins in between as the best days of their lives. They certainly don’t listen to the critics, but it appears Diego Simeone does.

11th March, 2020, Liverpool 2-3 Atletico Madrid. The birth of a new Atleti - or more importantly, a new Marcos Llorente. The Spaniards two goals that day marked a change from a consistent but forgettable defensive midfielder, to an all-action no.10/ winger/ wing-back. From there he became a regular starter, first as a winger in the trusted 4-4-2, then as an advanced no.8 in a sparingly used 4-3-3, and finally, in the more regular 3-5-2, Llorente would switch between the no.8 and the right wing-back role, depending on Kieran trippier’s availability.

Source: as.com

All very scientific, but what I’m trying to say is that, after seemingly stumbling upon Llorente’s hidden talent for goal-getting, Simeone clearly felt encouraged to throw caution to the wind, and start setting Atélti up on the front foot. He’d been listening to the critics, and now was his time to try something new. This new style, new approach, is what would ignite their title challenge during the winter of 2020. But when the business end of the season came, when all that mattered was getting over the line, Simeon reverted to type.

Even though the formation may not have changed back to the 4-4-2, during the final months of the 20/21 season, the style was not that of the swashbuckling, full-steam-ahead Atleti we had seen a few months prior. It was scrappier, less inventive, more dogged. It showed that, no matter what tweaks may be made to a lineup graphic, it’s hard for Diego Simeone and Atlético Madrid to get away from what they do best - playing a style of football that is combative, passion-fuelled, deceptively engrossing.

Source: sport.es

So, after a season where Simeone, or 'El Cholo' as he's known to the Atleti faithful, finally put into practice the experiments thousands of journalists had wished upon him for several years, we’re left with more questions than answers. The start of the 21/22 season has seen Real and Barcelona falter once more, but this time Atleti haven’t capitalised as they did 12 months ago.

There’s this notion that an entire football club can be wedded to one style. Barcelona claim ‘Barca DNA’ thanks to Cruyff and Pep. Arsenal fans demand attacking football in the same vein as Arsene Wenger’s great teams. And in the current case of Atléti, they are seen as the last masters of a style built around guts, guile and suffering. But In all these cases, it feels more like the ‘DNA’ of those clubs can simply be accredited to one or two managers, to request a club run itself the same way for eternity seems nothing short of foolish.

Source: theguardian.com

So maybe the ‘Atélti way’ is just the ‘Simeone way’, and if the club wish to expand the horizons of the football on show, they should wait util El Cholo has left; head held high, legacy intact. It may be that in 10 years time, Atlético Madrid are the blueprint for fluid, attacking football. But for now, they are not, and they shouldn’t fight it, it should be embraced. Any plan for the near-future should revolve around just that.

Will Cholo's men come again this season and top the tree, or be left off the pace. One thing is for certain, his side will die trying to give their all and fight for their manager, their leader and their legend.