It’s far better to have competed and lost than to have never competed at all – to paraphrase that inspirational quotation hanging on the wall of my neighborhood coffee shop.
Atlético Madrid are now mired in their worst kind since Diego Simeone took over as the director of the club back on Dec. 23, 2011. The mattress manufacturers were knocked out of the Copa del Rey and hauled back into their struggle for the title. They also have the little matter of Jürgen Klopp’s juggernaut from the Champions League. What were isolated spells of bad form and worse luck, have become so prevalent that it is tough to tell when one ends and the other starts.
It’s possible to love somebody hopelessly and endlessly and feel a debt to them that you can not repay, while knowing that something does not feel right. Simeone and Atlético are indelibly linked, today and forever, but their formal partnership will finish. There was a time when it was not possible to guess when, but it seems like it’s inching closer by the match.
It’s far better to have competed and lost than to have never competed at all, to paraphrase that inspirational quotation hanging on the wall of my neighborhood coffee shop.
Atlético Madrid are now mired in their worst kind since Diego Simeone took over as the director of the club back on Dec. 23, 2011. The mattress manufacturers were knocked out of the Copa del Rey and hauled back into their struggle for the title. They also have the little matter of Jürgen Klopp’s juggernaut from the Champions League. What were isolated spells of bad form and worse luck, have become so prevalent that it is tough to tell when one ends and the other starts.
It’s possible to love somebody hopelessly and endlessly and feel a debt to them that you can not repay — while knowing that something does not feel right. Simeone and Atlético are indelibly linked, today and forever, but their formal partnership will finish. There was a time when it was not possible to guess when, but it seems like it’s inching closer by the match.
It felt as though we were living in a bubble, watching history unfold before our eyes, like children of a certain vintage having the ability to rattle off the names of Louis van Gaal’s Champions League-winning Ajax side. You can remember that Simeone staff with precision:
Thibaut Courtois in target, Filipe, and Juanfran raiding the wings. Diego Godín and Miranda in the middle.
Atlético behaved like Muhammad Ali telling the world when he would knock out an opponent – a 1-0 win with a tropical target in the second half was something you could put the mortgage.
A 4-3 for him did not read like an exciting game of soccer. He did not see seven goals, he saw seven errors.
The goodwill Simeone gathered as Atlético spread their net, scooped up lovers, admirers, begrudgers and total credibility reached far and wide. He gave Atlético a new, an identity that brought attention. Together with sporting director Andrea Berta and other top decision-makers, Simeone helped Atlético turned into an enormous club.
But the tide appears to be turning. And attribute, rather than explanations, are being attained for first.
The same source claimed that the $70m midfielder is residing with increased fear of making a mistake than he is of being free and creative.
They can sign wonder children for more than 100 million. A “crisis” now means completing third rather than second and being knocked out of the Champions League from the quarter-finals instead of not making it in.
I discussed the possibility of a new start in the summer and how, for the first time, there was outward saying that things were changing. Perhaps it’s the revolving door that sees new players arrive annually and stalwarts of different statuses leave which means the principles have to be observed. A concept that I posited last month is that Simeone is tired and has drained the last remnant from his players. But whatever the situation, nothing fundamental has changed. Simeone stuck to his guns when results began to turn and hasn’t budged.
Whatever does happen, the club is currently cleaved into three eras – BC (before Cholo), AC (later Cholo), and then the big future.
