Atlético Madrid have had a tremendous summer in the transfer market.
Not only have they added numerous players of extremely high quality, but they also managed to hold on to Antoine Griezmann amid intense attention from Barcelona. By keeping Griezmann at the Wanda Metropolitano, Atleti have got their strong squad looking almost imperious.
Obviously Barcelona and Real Madrid are still the bigger sides with bigger budgets, but looking at the state of both sides one would have to expect Atleti to challenge for La Liga in a seriously meaningful way, such is their strength in depth now.
With that strength in mind, here are four ways Atlético Madrid could line-up this season with all their new signings.
Simeone Special
Diego Simeone has established his legend at Atlético Madrid playing a very specific 4-4-1-1 system. He’s tinkered with it at times but that has nearly always been his go-to, his bread and butter. So how would his current squad best fit into it? Well Jan Oblak would obviously be in goal behind the Uruguayan duo of José Giménez and new captain Diego GodÃn. That is as solid a defensive trio as you will find anywhere.
At full-back we would likely have a changing of the guard as Juanfran and Filipe Luis take a back-seat to World Cup finalist Sime Vrsaljko and World cup winner Lucas Hernandez. Lucas has traditionally been a centre-back but given his great displays on the left for France, and Filipe Luis’ advancing age, it’s hard to argue against this switch.
In midfield things don’t change that much. New signing Rodri is a magnificent pivot in the Busquets mould, and will directly replace departed skipper Gabi. He would play between Saúl and Koke, with one drifting wide to send in deep crosses and the other staying more centrally, pushing up to threaten goal.
These midfielders will play narrow, becoming an asymmetric midfield trio when Atleti have the ball, as left-winger Thomas Lemar drives forward to be a key creative cog in the final third, whipping in lethal crosses for the forwards. Simeone often uses inverted wingers for defensive solidity, but in Lemar he has a player who is adept at coming narrow in defensive phases and exploding out of the half-space in attack.
In attack, the obvious choices are Antoine Griezmann playing off Diego Costa. They are a superb strike partnership, with Griezmann’s intelligent movement and link play complimenting Costa’s muscular work and link play. Moreover, with a genuinely creative midfield, Griezmann can spend more of his time in the final third, picking passes and scoring goals.
Defending A Lead
Diego Simeone is a rare beast because his side is set-up almost entirely in a defensive manner. Yet Atleti never look as retrograde and behind the times as José Mourinho and Rafa Benitez’s teams do. Part of this is because Simeone’s sides love to press as high as possible; right until they get a lead, anyway!
Once his team are ahead, Simeone is very fond of retreating into a defensive shell and counter-attacking from there. It’s a strategy that has paid off as often as it’s cost him, but this season his team could do it superbly. The defence and goalkeeper remain the same from the previous shape, but instead of going straight to a midfield line of four, Rodri takes his place as a lone pivot.
With Rodri at the base of midfield, screening opponents, protecting his defence and starting attacks – his place in the midfield quartet is taken by the dynamo that is Thomas Partey. Thomas is a true all-action midfielder, able to hold, dribble, pass and shoot. He loves big moments and would add real thrust to Atleti’s midfield.
Meanwhile up-front Antoine Griezmann would lead the line, not in a traditional sense of course he would use his intelligent movement to break in behind opponents and provide a target for the midfield’s immense creativity.
New Blood, New Ideas
Part of what has made Atleti’s transfer business so impressive that they’ve brought in a lot of new and young players, and with those new players perhaps Diego Simeone would be open to try out some new ideas? Given the amount of young (or, at least, young for Atleti standards) players they have in their team they’d be foolish to not at least try.
Atleti have great centre-backs, even if you exclude the 32 year-old Diego GodÃn. A back three of José Gimenez (23), Stefan Savic (27) and Lucas Hernández (22) would provide quality defensive cover all across the width of the pitch, allowing the midfield ahead of them freedom to drive forward and try to push the opposition back.
Sime Vrsaljko (26) owns the right-flank whilst 22 year-old Rodri and 23 year-old Saúl hold down the middle of the pitch; Saúl providing the dynamic movement as Rodri sits and sprays the ball around. Vitolo is the side’s veteran (28) but has the versatility to play wing-back on either flank, so here he provides width from he left.
Up-front, new signings Gelson Martins (23) and Thomas Lemar (22) start in the half-space and float from there, Martins using his pacer and trickery to beat opponents and create from there (in what may yet prove to be a tricky season adapting to Simeone’s system), Lemar going where there’s space and wreaking havoc. In attack 23 year-old Angel Correa leads the line, but does so with pace and movement rather than power. This young(ish) XI would be constantly in motion and fully able to execute Diego Simeone’s vision of ceaselessly pressing side.
No Griezmann
For a while this summer, it looked like Atlético Madrid were preparing for life after Antoine Griezmann. They had signed a top quality defensive midfielder and winger. A switch to 4-3-3 seemed on the cards, which is the ideal formation for the side in a post-Griezmann world. And even though Griezmann stayed, if he ever was injured (or needed resting) then Atleti could turn to this system.
Four of the back five remain the same as the standard line-ups, with the only change being Filipe Luis coming in for Lucas to give the side a little more of an attacking presence down that left flank. In the middle Rodri anchors midfield by himself and midfield lynchpins Koke and Saúl play ahead of him, this young Spanish trio is full of passing, pressing and game intelligence.
In attack, Vitolo and Lemar play high and wide as true wingers. Obviously they will have defensive responsibilities (this is a Simeone side, after all) but with no Griezmann, these two become the primary playmakers for Atleti in the final third. In attack, who else but Diego Costa, ploughing a lone furrow as the team’s target man and main goalscorer. With all the supply coming his way, Costa could score bucketloads.
The post New blood, new ideas: How will Atletico Madrid line up next season? appeared first on Squawka News.
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