Atlético de Madrid: squad development, the key to success
How did the Madrid side manage to take 10 points off the two big Spanish teams? The key lies in the way the squad was put together and the poor management that Barcelona and Madrid have carried out.
If we analyse position by position, goalkeeping is where there is the most equality. All three teams have great goalkeepers. Perhaps if we get too demanding, Ter Stegen and Jan Oblak are a step above Courtois.
In defence, if we stick to the starters, perhaps Real Madrid have the best, especially after Gerard Piqué's injury. Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy in theory are better than Lodi, Savic, Giménez, Trippier and Dest, Araujo, Lenglet and Jordi Alba.
But Atletico also have Felipe, Vrsaljko and Mario Hermoso. The latter came from Real Madrid (very curious). Whenever they are needed, they deliver. Hermoso to the point that he has become an undisputed starter.
In Madrid, the injuries to Ramos and Carvajal first had the acceptable patch of Lucas Vázquez, but then Militao, Odriozola, Marcelo and Nacho, for various reasons, such as coronavirus, muscle injuries and inadequHow did the Madrid side manage to take 10 points off the two big Spanish teams? The key lies in the way the squad was put together and the poor management that Barcelona and Madrid have carried out.
If we analyse position by position, goalkeeping is where there is the most equality. All three teams have great goalkeepers. Perhaps if we get too demanding, Ter Stegen and Jan Oblak are a step above Courtois.
In defence, if we stick to the starters, perhaps Real Madrid have the best, especially after Gerard Piqué's injury. Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy in theory are better than Lodi, Savic, Giménez, Trippier and Dest, Araujo, Lenglet and Jordi Alba.
But Atletico also have Felipe, Vrsaljko and Mario Hermoso. The latter came from Real Madrid (very curious). Whenever they are needed, they deliver. Hermoso to the point that he has become an undisputed starter.
In Madrid, the injuries to Ramos and Carvajal first had the acceptable patch of Lucas Vázquez, but then Militao, Odriozola, Marcelo and Nacho, for various reasons, such as coronavirus, muscle injuries and inadequate fitness, have not been at the level of their teammates. The defence is in disarray when one of the first-choice players is missing.
In Barcelona, the injuries to Piqué, Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba have not been well covered by Umtiti, Mingueza and Junior Firpo. Perhaps Araújo has been the only one who has been playing at an acceptable level. The Frenchman Umtiti has not recovered the level that took him to the French national team and to become a world champion for the last two years. Firpo does not seem to have the quality to play for a competitive Barcelona. In addition, Lenglet and Mingueza are also highly questionable.
Real Madrid's midfield can also be a winner if Kroos, Casemiro and Modric are fit. But the Croatian is 35, the German is over 30 and that's a lot of games. Valverde has been diluted, from being a starter in many games to not counting, the same as Isco. Odegaard, bored and loaned to Arsenal, Lucas at full-back. The fact is that Kroos, Casemiro and Modric play everything. The physical wear and tear is evident and the few substitutes that play don't give a sense of confidence either. The most alarming case is that of Isco, totally out of form.
At Barcelona, in principle De Jong and Busquets are fixed. The other position would in principle go to Pjanic, but the Bosnian is not counting much for Koeman. Pedri, Sergi Roberto, when he is not injured, or Riqui Puig take turns in the third midfield slot. Coutinho was also seriously injured. De Jong and Busquets play practically everything. If they are not there, the team feels it too much.
Atletico have Koke, Saul and Marcos Llorente (another player coming from Real Madrid, even more curious than Mario Hermoso). Thomas left for Arsenal and the club quickly signed Kondogbia. But Cholo also has Torreira, Héctor Herrera and Thomas Lemar at his disposal. All four are getting minutes, to the extent that Saúl has not been a regular starter lately. Kondogbia is playing less because of his recent arrival. The Red and Whites have seven players of a more than acceptable level for three positions.
Barcelona's forward line, with Messi alone, is the most competitive. They are joined by Griezmann Trincao and Dembelé. Ansu Fati's injury has been a huge setback for the blaugranas. Dembelé has not been able to play regularly due to injuries either. He is replaced by Martin Braithwaite, a Danish player who arrived last year. The reality is that Ansu's injury, Dembelé's injuries and the relative performance of Antoine Griezmann leave Messi very lonely.
Real Madrid have Benzema and little else. Eden Hazard continues to fail to contribute what a player of his quality and, more importantly, his price tag should. Marco Asensio is coming off a long injury and is finding it hard to get back to form, although he is gradually improving. He has to play out of position to bring on the Belgian, but he is improving and scoring goals. The case of Vinicius is complicated. He has gone from being the sensation and the white hope to falling into a footballing precipice. Mariano plays practically nothing, just like Jovic who ended up leaving for Germany.
Rodrygo did play, but an unfortunate injury has sidelined him for several months. In summary, Karim Benzema plays everything and although his performance is very good, he sometimes has games in which he goes unnoticed.
Diego Costa has left Atlético and they already have the replacement, Moussa Dembelé, striker of Olympique Lyon. But they also have a magnificent gift: Luis Suárez, top scorer in La Liga ahead of Messi. The Uruguayan, who has been disowned at FC Barcelona, has 14 goals to his name. Joao Félix, Yannick Carrasco and Ángel Correa complete the forward line. Luis Suárez and Carrasco are fixed for Simeone. Joao Félix would be the third, but lately Correa and even Marcos Llorente have played up front.
With Cholo, whoever falls asleep loses the starting line-up. All of them are plugged in and no one's place is assured. Saúl, Joao Félix and Giménez are the proof. Well, if there is a fixed one, the goalkeeper Jan Oblak, but he never relaxes.
Here we open the debate about the coach and the club.
Zidane has won a lot at Real Madrid and therefore has a lot of credit. He manages the dressing room very well and is a calm and relaxed person.
In terms of squad development, we don't know if he has had much of a role. It is clear to us that Hazard, Jovic and Mendy were express requests from him. 200 million plus 40 million in variables. One has left without playing practically nothing, another plays everything and contributes nothing and Mendy complies, although for 40 million some demand more.
As for the Brazilians, Vinicius is a strange case, Rodrygo who counted a lot for the coach was seriously injured, Reinier did not play in Germany. Isco out of form, Ceballos at Arsenal, Brahim at Milan, Kubo at Getafe, Mayoral at Roma .......
The thing is that the squad is very short. But it has players that can be used in many teams. Some like Llorente and Hermoso will not return and they have extraordinarily strengthened a direct rival.
Summary: long squad that the coach has reduced too much. They lost to Cadiz, Valencia, Alaves and Levante and drew with Elche and Osasuna.
Koeman arrived at Barcelona at a very difficult time, especially financially. The economy has marked the departure of players such as Rakitic, Arthur, Arturo Vidal, Semedo and above all Luis Suárez.
The Culé coach let himself be led by the president's directives due to the serious economic situation. If not, it is incomprehensible that Luis Suárez is not there and has strengthened a direct rival on all fronts. At the moment Pjanic has not proven to be Juve's player and, of course, improve the result of Arthur or Arturo Vidal. Semedo would be playing most of the games.
The coach relies heavily on La Masia, but so far only Pedri and the injured Ansu Fati have worked. Mingueza, Araujo and Riqui Puig are more like gambles for the future.
In short, the squad lacks some quality and the start was very bad. They lost to Getafe, Cádiz and their two direct rivals Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid and drew with Alavés, Valencia and Éibar.
Simeone managed the arrival of Suárez, Marcos Llorente and Mario Hermoso by weakening the squads of direct rivals. He made up for the departures of Thomas and Diego Costa very well with guaranteed replacements. He has 20 players at his disposal and he counts on all 20 (his direct rivals barely count on 14).
Barring an alarming drop in play or physicality, Atletico Madrid are clear favourites to win La Liga because of their large and talented squad