4 Most Frustrating Things About Being an Atletico Madrid Fan Right Now
As a club, things have been pretty good for Atletico Madrid over the last few years. Major signings, big-money sales and a procession of trophies have passed through the doors of the Vicente Calderon, including La Liga's title in 2014.
Even with all that positivity over the longer period of time, short-termism in football inevitably leads to the odd frustrating moment for those who matter mostโthe supporters, watching from the sidelines or their homes and hoping that even more success is soon to follow that which has already come.
Atleti fans can't be hugely disappointed withย anything to do with the club right now, especially considering the state of affairs of 15 years ago, but nonetheless we can take a look at a few of the lesser evils that might cause a stirring of frustration or two over the coming weeks.
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Not going on the offensive
Two wins in two games was a great start to the new Liga season, especially considering last year's Europa League winners, Sevilla, were one of their opponents. Having established an early lead against the Andalusian club, however, Atleti chose to sit back for most of the second half, absorb pressure and then counter-attack to great effect late on.
So far, so good...but that didn't translate into an effective strategy in the third match, at home to Barcelona.ย The current league champions dominated proceedings and ended up as comfortable victors in style, albeit in a close 2-1 scoreline.
Considering the signings and the expenses outlaid on attacking recruits this summer, and some of the top-class talent already in place in the middle and final thirds, some fans might have been ruing Diego Simeone's decision to surrender so much play to Barcelona on home soil. The Madrid side could have gone for the kill early on against a side depleted by injuries and unavailability.
It's not the Atletico way; it's not what they have been built upon. However, Atleti do have the ability to at least go toe-to-toe with other top teams forย partย of the game, rather than get hemmed in early on and then struggle to break out of shape in their own half.
Lack of recognition
There is still a feeling, in a way, that Atletico Madrid are punching above their weight. Not in so much as that they aren't a big enough club to warrant winning trophies consistentlyโtheir title win in 2014, for example, can't be compared to Montpellier winning Ligue 1 four seasons ago or when Stuttgart lifted the Bundesliga title in 2007. Atleti have more history, a bigger catchment and greater pull on the world stage than any of those teamsโand yet they are still, by far, the smaller of the two clubs in Spain's capital city.
Perhaps it's the fact that for several seasons they had to sell their biggest talentsโDavid De Gea, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costaโto reinvest and renew themselves. Perhaps it's because they were a Segunda Division side within recent memory.
Whatever the reason, there still seems to be an overriding reluctance to group Atleti among those who will sustain a challenge for top honours and top players year after year, among the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
It continues to be presumed that, sooner or later, Antoine Griezmann or Koke or the next star will be offered big money and lured away.
That kind of mentality toward Atleticoโa big club, but not a huge oneโhas to rankle somewhat, especially considering Diego Godin turned down Manchester City this summer, as reported by Marca, and Atletico themselves were heavily involved in buying sought-after players for big money.
New signings
As for those new players brought into the Calderon, there hasn't been too much sight of them all so far, at least until the Champions League match against Galatasaray on Tuesday.
Simeone had intimated, per UEFA.com, that he would take his time in integrating them to the side:
"I always tell the new players that when I joined as coach, Koke wasn't a starter.ย
When Diego Costa came here after loan spells elsewhere, he wasn't a starter. When Jan Oblak arrived, he wasn't a starter. When Antoine Griezmann arrived, he wasn't a starter. The new boys need to integrate as well as possible so they quickly understand what the team need. Of course the coach will see that even faster.
"
Jackson Martinez had only started one of Atleti's three league games, Luciano Vietto hadn't featured in any of them at all. Filipe Luis was a first pick immediately at left-back, but the same can't be said for Yannick Carrasco on the wing or Stefan Savic at centre-back.
Some of these are understandable, particularly Savic. He's got a huge job on his hands to displace either of Godin or Josema Gimenez, but Vietto? Many would have expected him to feature very quickly this season, not have to wait until late in September for a taste of Liga action, considering he excelled early on in La Liga last season at Villarreal and also played under Simeone earlier in his career.
There was an excitement about the players Atletico signed this summer, and although arguments can't be made about Simeone's selections in the first two games, given the results, it would have been frustrating to have to wait to see Vietto in particular until Tuesday. It's a similar situation with Angel Correa, who came on as sub in the opening match of the season and hasn't been seen since, despite a debut for Argentina.
Fixture list openings
One final bone of contention, which was out of anybody's hands, was the fixture list. Atletico had a good summer, staying out of the line of sight of the media for the most part by not being in the title race in the final stages of last season. They would have wanted to continue that slightly more comfortable ride with a normal, steady opening to the new campaign.
The fixture list, however, has denied them that easy ride.
Sevilla and Barcelona within the opening three matches is bad enough, but in the next six games they also face Villarreal, Valencia and Real Madridโthat will be the entire top six (less themselves, of course) from last season played in the opening nine matches.
Pick up wins and confidence will, of course, be boosted, but any kind of poor run of results could quickly leave Atleti off the pace. With the squad they have this year, the title should again be the target, but it's frustrating that the team will be denied the kind of run of fixtures their rivals Real have opened withโpromoted and lower-half sidesโuntil November.
