as much as i hate leipzig, in terms of watching them play, atlético has to be one of the ugliest and most frustrating teams to watch.

constant diving (especially saúl & carrasco), card waving and ref swarming (especially koke) from the very first minute, and simeone is probably the worst of them all. there isn't a single challenge where he doesn't ask for an opponent to be booked. i can only hope the ref won't fall for it, or best case scenario, put a stop to it in the second half.

that saúl dive in the box was particularly egregious, how he got away without a booking there is beyond me. atlético under simeone is truly the embodiment of gamesmanship. everything wrong with football in a nutshell...

This post was edited by fender on Aug 13 2020 02:11pm

We absolutely smashed them at Anfield and they wouldn't have gone through if not for Adrian making multiple howlers. They have no class and I'm glad they're out.

this

The romance of Atletico has died out a lot. Few seasons ago they were being praised for playing like this with passion etc.

Problem is P$G will smash this Redbull team, i really wanted Atleti to go through.

Getting tactically murdered by a rookie Atalanta team for 80 minutes. No midfield apart from game destroyers. No real game plan except pass to Ney.

Ilicic stats : 21 goals in 34 games in Serie A, 32 yo, thats impressive. He didn't play cuz wife cheated lol. Papu Gómez also taken out allowed P$G to move.

Lucky win, but it shouldnt be ignored how Tukel got completely outplayed by Gasperini.

Hopefully Nagelsmann can go past him, but it's hard to believe considering Werner is already training with Chelski.

There's no evidence to this, thing that is being said the most is that he's feeling very depressed because of the situation that happened in the city of Bergamo.

Regardless if it is true or not, he should have played. I can understand being depressed over shit in your family, like the death of one of your parents or a close relative, but when you're 32 and either infidelity or this coronavirus affects you to completely dump your team

- that's selfishness and immaturity.



To write El Cholo off as a negative force which ultimately hurts the game is not only intellectually dishonest, but also an inaccurate depiction of the stunning job he has carried out in the Spanish capital since returning to his former employers in December 2011 from Racing Club.

When he took over from Gregorio Manzano, Atletico were languishing in 10th place in La Liga, with just two Champions League qualifications in the previous 15 years. Simeone, with no new investment in his first transfer window, steadied the ship immediately and by the end of 2011-12 had already delivered major silverware in the shape of the Europa League title.

10 years fast forward and he has 1 La Liga, 2 Europa League titles, 2 Champions League finals. and only once has missed on qualifying for the Knockout stages.

If that is not impressive i don't know what is.



This post was edited by B4al on Aug 14 2020 05:00am

i don't think anyone can deny they play (and coach) with passion, and it's not like it isn't impressive how they have closed the gap to real and barcelona under simeone, but the way they behave on the pitch is just disgraceful and bad for the sport.

their fans probably won't care, the end justifies the means and such, but i am genuinely convinced they have enough talent to not having to resort to that kind of gamesmanship.



mental health is nothing we should take lightly, joke or judge about. i had hoped the tragic suicide of robert enke would have been a wake up call for football fans, but apparently some are just too daft and immature to realise that some things are more important...

I fully agree, I just think a few seasons ago they got a lot more praise from it than they do now.



Apperantly he suffers from something that makes him very anxcious and scared, not to mention his history in his country I fully understand if he's feeling depressed and doesn't want/ can't play.

welp, didn't see this thread... I probably mixed it up with the betting threads... so I ended up bumping an old ass one.


As I've said on other ocasions, Simeone is finished. He has done an amazing job at Atlético, bringing it from mediocrity to the European elite... however, his cycle should be over.

The team is very predictable and one-dimensional. It doesn't matter if they're against the CL title holders or a 3rd division team, they play the same way.

It's a shame, because I like Simeone as a manager for Atlético, as he embodies what the club has always been about.... passion, rough play, etc... but he is at a point where he's holding the club back.

His tactics are past it, his player selection and transfers are awful. He's beyond stubborn about playing certain players and benching others, regardless of performance. He comes up with the same excuses year after year, even when they don't hold true at all. He has no ambition and considers a success to simply make it into the CL.

He has basically become Wenger 2.0, with his 4th place trophy mentality. It's a very similar situation over all, with him being a club legend, it will be very hard for the board to not keep extending his contract, even though they should. Atlético fans are at a point were they rarely criticize him in the stadium (sometimes a minority boos his decisions, but that's pretty much it), but in the club's forums there are tons of fans saying he should leave. It was a similar situation at Arsenal 10 years ago... give them another season or two of this crap, and we will soon begin to hear chants demanding his head in the Metropolitano.