Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 All in all, I believe we are now playing the way Lucho intended. For all the talk about him losing the plot and him tinkering endlessly, we seem to have ended up where he wanted. We are more direct and take more risks going forward, instead of passing it around the opponent's box waiting for a hole to open. More risks mean more chances of getting countered - so the defensive fragility is somewhat by design. Earlier in the season the team couldn't cope with this new "style", we'd lose lots of balls in midfield and open us up against the opposition. PSG in particular had a field day in the CL pressing our midfield. But the team just seems to have adjusted to it now, and the ball gets to the front guys quickly and in more dangerous positions. Also, Messi. It's stupid how good he can make a team just by himself. It's not only the goals, it's him dropping deep and spraying passes... he's at his best since the 91 goals season, imho. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Also, Messi. It's stupid how good he can make a team just by himself. It's not only the goals, it's him dropping deep and spraying passes... he's at his best since the 91 goals season, imho. Really seems like he's enjoying playing. Might sound funny, but looks like he has a new best friend in Neymar. For the past 18 months Neymar only looked for Messi and not the other way. Now both just look for each other. Pedro ran his socks off yesterday, but Messi kept only looking for Neymar. Was great seeing him give Neymar the penalty midweek, which shows hes back to his humble self after being a bit selfish and uninterested for 12-18 months IMO. Team is doing well, but that defense is like you say, still hugely insecure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 After watching him through the years I have noticed one thing. Messi isn't selfish, but won't pass you the ball if he believes you'll f*** things up. That's often detrimental, but it's the way he is. Imho the key of getting the best of him is just surrounding him with players he thinks are good enough and he'll enjoy playing with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 After watching him through the years I have noticed one thing. Messi isn't selfish, but won't pass you the ball if he believes you'll f*** things up. Aye fair enough. Probably true. I just felt he wasn't giving a shit on the pitch, now he's actually at times coming back to defend and win the ball deep which is great. Neymar on the other hand has stopped that for most parts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 All in all, I believe we are now playing the way Lucho intended. For all the talk about him losing the plot and him tinkering endlessly, we seem to have ended up where he wanted. We are more direct and take more risks going forward, instead of passing it around the opponent's box waiting for a hole to open. More risks mean more chances of getting countered - so the defensive fragility is somewhat by design. Earlier in the season the team couldn't cope with this new "style", we'd lose lots of balls in midfield and open us up against the opposition. PSG in particular had a field day in the CL pressing our midfield. But the team just seems to have adjusted to it now, and the ball gets to the front guys quickly and in more dangerous positions. Also, Messi. It's stupid how good he can make a team just by himself. It's not only the goals, it's him dropping deep and spraying passes... he's at his best since the 91 goals season, imho. FFS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 What's so FFS about it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 What's so FFS about it? 91 goals man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Very disappointed to see Atleti pretty much throw away their chances for retaining the title. Even with 15 games to go I just can't see Real and Barca (especially the latter) dropping that many points. Atleti were so poor last night, but at least Simeone had the balls to admit it. Such a leader that guy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Fuck Atletico and that cheating Argentine bastard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 You can't deny what a brilliant coach/manager he is, once you get over WC 98. I used to not like him but what he's built at Atletico is phenomenal. It's truly refreshing imo. Not everyone likes their football, but personally I love how organised they are- especially defensively- and just how much teams struggle to play against them because of that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I think he's very good. I don't like him, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I think he's very good. I don't like him, though. His conduct in the CL final was probably the worst I've ever seen from a professional manager, absolutely fucking diabolical. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Simeone's team is like a mirror image of himself I can't help but respect him and his team though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Simeone's team is like a mirror image of himself I can't help but respect him and his team though. I love it. There's no pretense. Especially last year but also this - week in week out their concentration levels where superb. I don't think i've seen a team with such great concentration. You don't steal a march on them by thinking quick - always on the ball. It's much greater than being organised. It's mindset of being warriors. Every minute counts. Every pass counts. I think his team is better than he was as a player, much so. Similar characteristics but the honesty in their work on the training ground is more noticeable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Simeone's team is like a mirror image of himself I can't help but respect him and his team though. I hate it, but somehow enjoy it. I think he's very good. I don't like him, though. His conduct in the CL final was probably the worst I've ever seen from a professional manager, absolutely f***ing diabolical. Aye he snapped, but game was 4-1 when Varane decided to play a pass into Simeone when he had the whole field to play the ball out of play. He aimed at Simeone and the guy snapped. He should probably learn to control himself but I thought it was poor form from Varane tbh Seen Scolari hit a guy on the pitch and Pardew headbutt someone, that's worse IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Atlético are more watchable this season. Last year all their attacking nous consisted in aiming at Costa's arse and see what he did with it (usually a lot). Griezmann has added another dimension to their attack while Mandzukic performs well as the tall striker. It was hard to replicate the kind of intensity and sometimes downright luck that they enjoyed last year, but they are still doing pretty well, imho. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Simeone's team is like a mirror image of himself I can't help but respect him and his team though. I hate it, but somehow enjoy it. I think he's very good. I don't like him, though. His conduct in the CL final was probably the worst I've ever seen from a professional manager, absolutely f***ing diabolical. Aye he snapped, but game was 4-1 when Varane decided to play a pass into Simeone when he had the whole field to play the ball out of play. He aimed at Simeone and the guy snapped. He should probably learn to control himself but I thought it was poor form from Varane tbh Seen Scolari hit a guy on the pitch and Pardew headbutt someone, that's worse IMO. He was acting the cunt before Varane iirc. Don't remember the exact timeline but from the moment Real equalised or took the lead he totally lost it. Varane was just the final explosion. Like Ronaldo I recognise he's great, but he's a woeful person. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Atlético are more watchable this season. Last year all their attacking nous consisted in aiming at Costa's arse and see what he did with it (usually a lot). Griezmann has added another dimension to their attack while Mandzukic performs well as the tall striker. It was hard to replicate the kind of intensity and sometimes downright luck that they enjoyed last year, but they are still doing pretty well, imho. I don't think it was "luck". Last year they would grind out wins in the truest sense of the word but that was the style. Like Boa Constrictor. Eventually something would give in the opposition. If by luck you're referring to Real packnig it in after Bayern & being fortunate against your bunch. Fair enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I don't think it was "luck". Last year they would grind out wins in the truest sense of the word but that was the style. I call it luck. Yeah, it was the style, but the % of times it worked was anomalous. There's only so many times you can base all your attack on deadballs and expect to win every single game, no matter how good you are at set pieces (and they are very good at them). In the last two months of last season they didn't score any single league goal from open play, and they still won the trophy. Simeone himself realized it, imho, and that's why they got Griezmann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Simeone's team is like a mirror image of himself I can't help but respect him and his team though. I hate it, but somehow enjoy it. I think he's very good. I don't like him, though. His conduct in the CL final was probably the worst I've ever seen from a professional manager, absolutely f***ing diabolical. Aye he snapped, but game was 4-1 when Varane decided to play a pass into Simeone when he had the whole field to play the ball out of play. He aimed at Simeone and the guy snapped. He should probably learn to control himself but I thought it was poor form from Varane tbh Seen Scolari hit a guy on the pitch and Pardew headbutt someone, that's worse IMO. He was acting the c*** before Varane iirc. Don't remember the exact timeline but from the moment Real equalised or took the lead he totally lost it. Varane was just the final explosion. Like Ronaldo I recognise he's great, but he's a woeful person. Fair enough Still think his explosion was ok considering what was happening I mean he was a second or so away from taking them to a CL win. Would've been one of the biggest achievements in football history. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Agree with VI on Griezmann, they have replaced Costa quite well in general. It's Courtois and Felipe Luis (who if he didn't get injured Atletico would be the European champions right now) they have replaced very poorly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Moyá, while certainly not being Courtois, is having a hell of a season. Oblak was pencilled as the starter after spending so much money on him, but Moyá made himself undroppable in the Supercopa. I agree that Siqueira is a far cry from Filipe Luís, though. I think the "problem" is that Simeone got this group of players to perform at 150% last season, and it's only getting them to perform at 125% in this one. However, they are putting the foundations for cementing themselves at the top, imho, if Simeone sticks around for at least one more season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 VI, how much longer is Simeone anticipated to stay for? There was talk a while ago that he wants to move to the Premiership and is learning English (personally I think that would be an awful move for him, stay out of this league ffs), but I also heard that he's eying up a job in Italy. It would be great to see him stay at Atleti for a few more seasons to really try and cement their status as one of the big boys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I think he's going to stay as long as Atlético can match his ambitions and the club progresses. I don't know if he can keep up such high-octane management style without burning out, though. Pretty sure he'll stay at least one more season unless things go pear-shaped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 What's so FFS about it? 91 goals man That's sickening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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