The decline of Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid

A flash. Blink and you’ll miss it. For an Atletico fan, the fun times were never about winning. It was always about him. Aggressive, running like a jaguar, and omnipresent. Fans flocked to witness him. Those years, 1995 to 1996, were transformative for any Colchonero fan. Winning the La Liga is always a matter of bragging rights but winning the Copa del Rey elated every fan. But ask any fan in that season and they’ll only speak of one player. Yes, Kiko and Caminero were powerful.

Yes, the team played wonderful football. Yet, he was there, representing everything Los Indios wanted. You couldn’t miss him. How could you? The curly hair and the dominating frame was always an eye-catcher. One look into his eyes and you would be in awe. It was something that people had never seen. The tenacious and the fierce gaze always made people scared of him.

Diego Simeone, Cholo as they called him, was a true Rojiblanco. When asked about his playing style, he replied he plays like he has a ‘knife between his teeth'. Faced in the shadows of Los Blancos, Atletico have always had to fight until the end. Irrelevancy is the apt term. With every match, Atletico have had to fight just to stay in the spotlights.

This fight can get gritty and intimidating but that has always been the Atleti way. They are the perennial underdogs and they’ve become accustomed to it. As any underdog can testify, being undervalued and then proving someone wrong is the best feeling. Perhaps it is this feeling that keeps Atletico in the top fringes of La Liga football. It is exactly this feeling that Simeone shows.

In what is perhaps his biggest occasion, Simeone was always overshadowed by the ever-talented Maradona. The ever graceful Argentinian was a polar opposite to the gritty and physical style of Simeone. This grittiness is mainly credited to his childhood. His mother was a hairdresser while his father was an amateur footballer (although he later became salesman). To make ends meet, both had to work extremely hard. He credits his parents with the hard-working mentality we’ve seen from him.

His footballing talents were creamed out by his father who taught him the physical and mental aspects of the game. He became so good that he was playing for three clubs, Star of Gold, General Paz, and El Fortin, and won at all three. This was the Simeone way.

Thus, when Cholo was announced as the new Atletico manager in 2011, it was reasonable that the Simeone way would become the Atletico way. In some ways, Atletico needed someone like Simeone. Having dropped in relevancy between the two titans, Real Madrid and Barcelona, Atletico needed a bounce back.

The Way was immediately seen. The level of organization and discipline was immediately recognizable. As with any change, the supporters were skeptical. Simeone proved them wrong by winning the UEFA Europa League in his first season. From that point, the fans converted. They became ardent supporters.

Successes and upsets came. The next year, Atletico won the UEFA Super Cup. In 2013, Cholo would guide them to the perhaps the greatest season for Atletico fans. Not only would they win the La Liga title, but they would also go on to almost completing a history double with the UCL. In that season, peak Choloball was achieved. No matter the opposition, Atletico prevailed.

They became the titan crushers, defeating the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona, and AC Milan. They held till the last minute in the final of the UCL, only for a single mistake to unravel the tightly knit team plan. It was at the moment that everyone realized that Cholo was here to dominate and win.

The 2014-15 season was something of a return to normalcy, at least for the world. In the summer of 2014, Atletico sold Diego Costa, Filipe Luís and Thibaut Courtois to Chelsea. To recompensate for this loss, Atlético bought striker Mario Mandžukić from Bayern Munich, goalkeeper Jan Oblak from Benfica. Atletico also added Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad, Ángel Correa from San Lorenzo, and Saúl from Rayo Vallecano.

All of these players that were brought in by Simeone as additions to his street grit team. Furthermore, Atletico finished a respectable third and lost to Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.

It was in the 2015 - 2016 season where we saw why those signings were made. Simeone adjusted and gave a new definition to defensive prowess. His team conceded only 18 goals and had the most clean sheets in the whole of Europe. After battling through literal hell, as they knocked out a strong PSV side, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, to meet up with Real Madrid with another final.

This time, Simeone and his team held their ground, driving the game up to the final extra minute. It was this grittiness which drew Atletico to the penalties. One missed Juanfran penalty and up came Ronaldo. The script had already been written. With an agonizing loss, Atletico bowed, once again, from the spotlights of fame and history.

It seems like that Simeone and his team are destined to get bad luck. One silly mistake, one slip, and one wrong ball have been the difference between them and their big brother, Real Madrid. Throughout Simeone’s term, he has consistently come short behind Real Madrid. The one season where they eclipse them in La Liga and UCL, one of their ex-soldiers makes sure that they never achieve success.

It’s a sad story. It’s a story of a man who has given it his all. A man who lives eats and breathes Atletico. And as the curtain comes to close, Simeone’s career will be one of missed chances and opportunities. Even though he has a new contract, the new contract seems dull now. The same tactics and the same approach on grittiness can only work for so long. With an Atletico squad which is aging and where the youth have yet to shine, the Colchoneros have a monumental task around them. Get rid of the old guard and instate the fresh blood. In this process, inevitably, Simeone’s time will have to come to an end.

He will go down in Atletico’s history as a legend. He’s already an icon to Colchoneros around the world. But there’s a tinge of bittersweetness in his decline. For a player and manager so great, he could only do so much. And to much dismay, there’s a moral here. That may be the talent does eclipse hard work. That money reigns supreme. And that my friends, is one hell of a sadder story than Simeone.

By: Abhishek Mishra