5 changes Atletico Madrid should effect for next season

It has been an odd season for Los Rojiblancos as the limp performance the team displayed in the UEFA Champions League has been replaced by their trademark ferocity and aggression in La Liga and the Europa League.

The team had started the season with the dark clouds of a transfer embargo around it and the constant rumours about the mooted departures of players like Antoine Griezmann created an air of uncertainty around the club.

The inability to sign players hindered the team as manager Diego Simeone was unable to get rid of players he might not have wanted while at the same time being unable to sign the ones he would have preferred.

This cost the club the chance to sign targets like Alexandre Lacazette (who eventually moved to Arsenal)

It has not been all doom and gloom as the club after some delays moved to its new, ultramodern stadium; the 67,703-capacity Wanda Metropolitano and Spanish internationals Diego Costa and Vitolo joined in January after spending the first half of the season on hiatus from former clubs Chelsea and Sevilla (Vitolo spent the first half on loan at Las Palmas).

However, for Atleti to be competitive next season certain things about the club will have to change.

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#5 Reduce the average age of the squad

Torres is symptomatic of the current age of the squad which needs to be reduced

Atletico Madrid is a team filled with experienced wily campaigners and usually gets stronger as the season enters the final stages but more often than not, the team struggles in the opening stages of the campaign.

In a league season, a slow start is usually dangerous as a team that starts slowly may be playing catch up all through the season but in a round robin tournament like the Champions League, it’s nothing short of disastrous.

Atleti is one of the older teams among Europe’s elite with an average age of 27.7 and steps should be taken to reduce this.

Defensive stalwarts Diego Godin, Juanfran, Filipe Luis, captain Gabi and striker Fernando Torres are 5 important squad members that are on the wrong side of 30, while others like Kevin Gameiro, Diego Costa will be 30 by the time the 2018-19 season kicks-off.

This has become apparent in the team’s play as younger, faster teams have caused the side serious problems this season (see the 2-1 loss to Villarreal for example).

The club has already begun taking steps to remedy this with the signing of one of the best players in this season’s La Liga and an ex-cantenaro; defensive midfielder Rodri from Villarreal for €20m as a long-term replacement for skipper Gabi.

More of this will need to be done especially in the fullback and wing positions (assuming Lucas Hernández is eventually moved back to his favoured centre-back position from left-back) to help the team rediscover its dynamism and ability to mix and match styles.

#4 Let go of the handbrakes

Atleti as a club needs to evolve its style of play to become more daring

Under Simeone, Atleti has acquired a reputation as a tough-as-nails, difficult-to-beat team that always seeks to be defensively resolute while being ruthless upfront by converting the few chances they create/mistakes they force.

While this tactic was very successful in the early years of El Cholo’s reign when the team won two Europa cups and a La Liga title aswell as getting to two UEFA Champions League finals, Atleti is no longer seen as a team of plucky underdogs but as one of the European elite that exist on a level just below the big three: Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Simeone’s safety-first approach has been figured out and as such, the team will need to become more proactive and daring in seeking to stamp their authority on opponents next season.

A look at Atleti’s record against the big teams this season in La Liga and European football shows the jaded nature of the team’s current approach as seen in 6 games against their fellow Top 4 teams in the league, Simeone’s men have only recorded a single victory against Valencia while they have drawn 3 and lost once.

In the UCL, Los Colchoneros in 4 games against Chelsea and AS Roma could only record one win (a 2-0 triumph over AS Roma) while they drew twice and lost once to the Blues.

These records show that Atleti have to become more daring in attack, and while this may lead to more concession of goals, the team with the firepower it currently has (and will add in the summer) can and should score more than it currently does.

#3 Become better in the transfer market

Atleti fans never got to see the best of Carrasco among other dud signings

Atleti has a well-established reputation as the world’s premier team when it comes to buying strikers as the club’s long record of replacing great strikers with others just as great/greater is unsurpassed by any other team in world football (Christian Vieri, Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink, Torres, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, Costa etc).

However, keen eyes would have noted that quite a number of players bought in the last 6-7 years have been duds who have failed to fit into the very rigid set-up favoured by Simeone.

Alessio Cerci, Josuha Guilavogui, Luciano Vietto, Jackson Martinez, Nico Gaitán have all been expensive flops. Though in the case of Martinez, the club did make a profit.

This troubling failure does not end with established players as highly rated youngsters like Matías Kranevitter, Rafael Borre, Diogo Jota have also failed to make the grade at the club.

Much of this is down to Simeone’s failure to switch styles to allow these players flourish and this malaise even extends to young players who have shown their quality in flashes (Yannick Carrasco and Olivier Torres are two of the best examples) and have had to leave.

Simeone has been a godsend to the club since he arrived in 2011, but his refusal to evolve is beginning to hurt the team a la Jose Mourinho and he will need to get his act together if the team is to have a great campaign next season.

#2 Trust some of the younger players with more play time/responsibilities

Younger players like Thomas need to be trusted with more play time

The core of players who have done so well for Atleti are on their last legs and if the club wish to avoid the kind of meltdown that AC Milan witnessed when its older players started dropping off one by one, next season will be very important for the team.

Despite its large core of older players, there are quite a number of younger players in the team who are raring to be given more responsibility and have shown the quality they have.

José Giménez (23), Lucas Hernández (22), Thomas Partey (24) and Sime Vrsaljko (26) are members of the squad more than capable of stepping in for the older generation and will need to be trusted with more responsibility.

Koke (26), Saúl Ñíguez (23), and Ángel Correa (23) are already established members of the team and will need the help of the aforementioned players to help ease the expected exits of stalwarts like Torres, Gabi, Godin, Juanfran and co.

The confirmed arrival of Rodri (21) is borne of the realization by the club’s hierarchy of the need to regenerate, and with rumours linking the club to players like Valencia striker Rodrigo Moreno if Griezmann leaves; it seems the club will be looking to the future for its recruitment next season.

#1 Decide the fate of its most valuable assets

The future of players like Griezmann needs to be decided once and for all

All season long, the Atleti faithful have been inundated with news, rumours and outright fabrications about the futures of some of the club’s best players especially Griezmann.

At a point, it seemed Manchester United was said to be the destination for the talented Frenchman but in recent months, FC Barcelona & Manchester City are said to have entered the fray.

The constant speculation is not helping the team’s dynamics, though to the Frenchman’s credit, it has not affected his play as he has continued to deliver.

If rumours are to be believed, the 27-year-old has a €100m buy-out clause which any interested club would have to meet to get his signature. It would be in the club’s best interest to conclude any possible deal before the World Cup so as to give itself ample time to get in replacements.

Star goalie Jan Oblak is another member of the squad attracting the wolves and like Griezmann, the club will have to make a decision on whether to encourage potential suitors to pay his buyout fee which is said to also be €100 million or offer the Slovenian a new, improved deal with a bigger buyout clause.

These two players have been brilliant for Los Colchoneros since they joined for a combined fee of €46m the in the 2014-15 season, but for a combined €200m, the club will have ample funds to re-calibrate.