Perhaps no other season has tested the bond and the relationship between Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone as the last campaign did. When Atletico arrived at the break for the World Cup, they did so off the back of depressing defeat to Real Mallorca away from home.
They were also sitting fifth and so bad was their form, there were genuine doubts over whether they would make it into the top four and the Champions League for next season.
On top of that, Los Colchoneros were eliminated from the Champions League, finishing last in the group stages for the first time in their history. With just 18 months remaining on his deal, there was serious talk that it might be the end of an era for Simeone and Atletico.
“Without a doubt it was the worst part of these 11 years.”
“We were unable to convey what we had always been able to convey. Then we were lucky, because what we did last season is much more difficult than winning a title. In terms of the level of work, there are very few teams that, when you did as badly as we did in the first round, with a part of the team that was slow, lacking clarity, commitment, wihtout a clear identity seen in the play… It was on the way to becoming the end of a cycle.”
Fortunately, they were able to turn things around, and in the second section of the season were the strongest side together with Barcelona.
“The break was very good for us. We were able to breathe, change the mentality and perception of some things, we returned with humility to accept what we were doing wrong, not to leave behind what we believed in. Recovering in the second round as we did is worth more than any championship, it is very difficult to get out of a sh**** situation and we did it with humility, work and commitment, the group was strong and when the dressing room is good, that is our strength. The more Spaniards who share the dressing room, the better response we have as a team. Because of idiosyncrasies. Because you are in Spain and the idiosyncrasies are Spanish and those of us who are not from Spain have to adapt to feeling what the club needs.”
He was under no illusions at just how serious the situation was at the time.
“I am optimistic by nature, I already told you. I’m not stupid, I saw it the same way as you did, the team played badly, that it had no identity, or commitment to effort, that the team divided itself in order to play, that associatively it did not transmit security,” he told Diario AS.
“But there are a lot of nuances. In that section [of the season] we almost always had the central defenders injured, De Paul had a hard time getting to his level, Griezmann couldn’t play the time the team needed him to, Molina was not Molina…”
In particular, he highlighted the case of one player who turned his season around from being one of the worst in his position before the World Cup to one of the best after it.
“All that happened to us and we had to go through it, there are times when it is done with fear of not getting out of it and others trusting that yes [we would]. I remember the game against Villarreal, Nahuel’s second match, he misses a goal, they send him off… I went to the hotel to tell him that he was going to be important to us, that we were convinced of his impact, that it was a sh**** moment, but that did not change our thinking. Then came the Molina that we see, the world champion, the decisive attacker who scores goals… The one we signed from Udinese. Many believed that he was not ideal, but luckily he was. We hit once again.”
Simeone’s admissions are a keen reminder that even if managers are aware of some of the problems facing their sides, they cannot always publicly admit to them. Maintaining a strong persona in front of the media is not necessarily an indicator that they cannot see those issues.
