In the words of Michael Scott, “It takes a big man to admit his mistake, and I am that big man.”

Looking back, I couldn’t have been more wrong about Diego Simeone. It’s almost embarrassing to look back on what I wrote in early January. I figured Simeone would come in and play a kind of game where Atlético would just beat the opponent into submission, find a goal, then go back to playing defensively for the rest of the game. I never would have expected Atlético to show the kind of attack that they have in the past couple of games. With the form the club is on, Champions League qualification is a possibility. Although they are in seventh place, Atlético is only two points behind fourth-place Levante and five points off third-place Valencia. Few expect Levante to finish fourth, but Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and Malaga will be very stiff competition.

Compare that to earlier in the season under Gregorio Manzano when there were whispers, albeit very faint whispers, that this club could be headed for relegation. I was very close to writing an article where I would have argued that if Atlético were to get relegated, it might prove to be the best thing they needed. Newcastle has become a different club since the one season they spent in the Championship.

Watching Atlético under Manzano was difficult and it sapped almost all enthusiasm I had for being a supporter of the club. The players just looked lost. If they went down in a game, you could pretty much stick a fork in them because they weren’t coming back. In adversity, it just didn’t look like anyone would step up. You would see 11 faces all looking at each other wondering who would be the leader. Some wondered if sacking Manzano in December or January would even matter. 2011/12 had already been chalked up as a lost cause.

That seems to have changed under Simeone. This is the one thing that I believe I got right. Simeone being a former Atleti player, I knew he felt pride in wearing the crest and he would expect his players to feel the same way. Upon his appointment, I had heard Tim Vickery on the World Football Phone-In say that Diego Simeone the player and Diego Simeone the manager were pretty much the same, fiery and in your face. I did question whether or not it would be too much. With players making so much money, it’s easy to think that they would simply tune out a manager like that.

With all this said, it’s probably best to fall back down to earth a bit. In the same World Football Phone-In interview, Vickery had also said that Simeone’s style had all but alienated the players and supporters of Racing Club in Argentina. They were actually quite happy to see him go. He had clashed with the higher-ups of the club and certainly did not seem to enjoy his time, so maybe that rubbed off in his style. That leaves the question of if things start to go a little sour at the Calderón, the finger-pointing will begin and the club will fall right back into their mid-table form.

Also, while Atlético scored three goals and four goals against Villarreal and Real Sociedad respectively, their style has been a little of what I had predicted. One of the hallmarks under Manzano was that Atlético would dominate possession. Rarely would it translate to the scoreline, but they seemed to maintain the lion’s share of possession. Prior to the Osasuna match, Atlético had failed to get a majority of possession. Even in the Villarreal match, where the club had 20 shots, nine of which were on goal, Atlético only had 41% of possession. I think the Osasuna match is going to be the real kind of game we can expect to see from Atlético Madrid. They only had four shots on goal, and their only goal came in the 40th minute off a cross from Filipe. That was all the club needed to get the three points. It was a pretty heated match as well with both clubs really getting stuck in. That is another thing you can expect to see from Atlético, lots of fouls. In the four games under Simeone, the club has registered 26, 13, 24 and 17 fouls.

As great as Simeone has the club playing right now, February is going to really test the club. They face off with Valencia this Sunday, they have two legs with Lazio in the Europa League and finish off the month with Barcelona. By the end of the month, I think we’ll really know if Atlético Madrid is Champions League quality.

Falcaometer (as of Feb. 3rd, 2012)



This Week: 3

Atlético Madrid is arguably at it's highest point of the season in terms of morale. Looking a bit lost under Manzano, Falcao is starting to show again the form that he had last season and is justifying his €40 million transfer. A showdown with Valencia on Sunday looms large, and a win will go a long way in establishing Atlético as Champions League qualifiers.