Cholo has really reinvented himself. People who don’t watch Atleti matches still think they play the defensively dark arts oriented style that had from around 2013-2016.
Between 2017-2019 cholo realized he needed to play more attack oriented football because Atleti kept dropping points by drawing against mid table teams and thus couldn’t really challenge for the league. He had a major rebuild the year they sold Greizmann and Lucas Hernandez ( by buying Felipe, Hermoso, Lodi, Llorente and Felix) and won the league the year after. Rodri and Partey were supposed to be the double pivot of the future after Gabi’s retirement but they had low release clauses and left. He switched from the 442 which he was known for to a 532. He converted Koke to a holding midfielder, llorente to an attacking midfielder, and Lemar to a box to box midfielder.
Atleti has been defensively weak and offensively strong for several seasons. The time wasting and aggressive fouls have gone away too. They had 0 red cards in la liga when the won a coupon of seasons ago. Now they are one of the top scoring teams in Europe. The 3 central defenders are selected more for their offensive contribution than their defending.
The only real criticism is his failure to develop Joao Felix. However Felix had 2 good seasons but was just injury prone because he was getting beat up by La Liga defenders. Felix carried the team the first half of the season when they won la liga last. Felix didn’t pan out in the end because Greizmann came back and was just better with more work ethic. If you look at Felix with Barca now he is a hard worker who tracks back. He has become a better all around player. Greizmann was successful with France and Felix with Barca because they learned how to be better all around players because of Simeone.
The day Simeone leaves Atleti will truly be the end of an era.
I wonder what whoever finally take his position at Atleti will think. “Big shoes to fill”, but those are kayak sized. Like replacing SAF.
El Cholismo must go on
he will be there until they won a champions, or he dies
wichever comes first
