Posted by Joseph Zucker

It really should be expected. Everything has turned upside down for Atletico Madrid at some point this season. Radamel Falcao went from being unable to stop scoring to becoming profligate in front of goal. Manager Gregorio Manzano went from the manager who would return to Atleti back to the promised land, to having to worry about his job security. The club had looked really strong and a chance for Champions League qualification was not outside the realm of believability. Now, getting in Europe looks to be the best they can hope for.

Coming into the last couple of matches, there did seem to be one constant: the lack of scoring from Adrián. If there was one thing you could bet on each and every match, it would be that the young Spaniard would once again fail to impress. That is, of course, until the last two matches against Real Zaragoza and Udinese. Adrián found the net twice in each match. It really is a welcome sign for the club, who have been looking for someone to really take the scoring load off of Falcao.

A wrote an article here a few weeks back about Atletico's failure to sign a dependable second striker to partner with Falcao. It's kind of hard to tell if that was the purpose of bringing Adrián in this past summer. I would like to believe the club didn't bank on a player who only scored eight goals last year to become a dependable second striker immediately. He came with a good pedigree in the Spain U-21s. Of course, this might all be different had Diego Costa not gotten hurt in July. At the same time, though, the club had plenty of time to look for other options.

Maybe I've just been overly cynical about Adrián. I'm just used to seeing strikers the quality of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan in an Atletico shirt. I think Manzano's tactics haven't really been helping him too much. Manzano preferred a 4-3-3 early in the season. It really seemed to help the new signings really excel and make quick impacts. But it also stuck Adrián on the right wing. I think it was clear to see he was really struggling to make an impression and seemed to just not know how to create chances for himself. Against Udinese, Manzano opted for a 4-3-1-2. Playing in a more natural position, Adrián looked fantastic and scored two inside of 12 minutes. It will be interesting to see how the team lines up against Getafe on Sunday.

The back-to-back wins follow an absolutely horrendous run of form. Following the drubbing by Barcelona, the wheels really fell off for Atletico. Out of a possible 24 points in all competitions, the club was only able to collect 10. As a result, the supporters grew restless and chants calling for Manzano's job began popping up in the Calderón. A sacking would be incredibly undeserved for him, but there's no doubt the struggles do start with the manager. There's no reason to rush to judgment and get rid of him after only 10 league matches. He hasn't helped himself at times, though. I've listened to a couple of podcasts from the men of This is Atleti, and they commented on how Manzano has started to become a little evasive in his press conferences. That is perhaps not the best strategy for a man whose job security is even the slightest bit in doubt. Earlier in the season, he was much more open and seemed to bring a calming presence in his press conferences.

I don't really know why I expected any less. If there is one thing that's predictable with Atletico Madrid, it's their unpredictability in the early part of the season. I'm done trying to make any sense of where the season might end up. Before the season started, I picked a number out a hat and predicted the club would finish in that position, which turned out to be 14th. I pretty much dismissed that as way too low, but it could become a very real possibility.

And with that, let's check in on where the Falcaometer stands this week.

Falcaometer (as of November 4, 2011)



This week: 8

It's certainly a long way down from the last reading (a season-high of 21). It's hard to tell if the bad run of form is behind Atletico, or if the bad run of form is what we should get used to for the rest of the season. It does appear any thought of finishing in the Top 4 was just an aberration. They're already eight points off fourth place and I don't really see them closing the gap at any point.

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