It seems like just a few years back we had a cascade of long time managers leaving their posts. In instances like Alex Ferguson’s departure from Man United or Arsène Wenger’s from Arsenal age was essentially the primary reason why they were leaving the club. In other instances like Guardiola’s departure from Barcelona or Zidane’s from Real Madrid burnout and a sense that they accomplished everything that they could accomplish was generally cited. Diego Simeone is maybe not as successful or as old as some of the managers that we’ve referenced, but he seems to be suffering from some of the same ailments that we saw at the end of the tenures of these historic managers.
In number and importance of titles Simeone can’t be compared to some of the names we mentioned. The thing is, he picked up a team that hadn’t won the league title since the 95-96 season. Although they had already won one Europa League title, by the time he got there he certainly increased the total number of those trophies in Atlético’s trophy case. He was taking over a losing club, and right now he could be in trouble because he can’t keep up with the standard he’s set for himself. Today he seems like a manager out of touch with his current squad and on the brink of getting sacked. What’s gone wrong?
Atlético’s Identity Crisis
One of the biggest problems for Simeone has been his clear inability to craft a new identity for this team. Currently, the squad arguably features its best lineup of offensive pieces during the Simeone era. We could say that there is no one on the roster that’s close to Falcao or Diego Costa in their prime, but just the number of offensive pieces that are available for Simeone is something that he’s never had before. Now even middle of the pack teams will play Atletico in what used to be the Atletico way. Tough defense, and counter attacks.
Simeone’s back line has never been the same since the departure of Diego Godin. His fellow Uruguayan center back partner Jose Maria Jimenez has become a middle of the pack to low tier player since Godin’s departure, and the team’s transition defense is terrible. They keep getting scored on through counter attacks, and that can also be blamed on an aging midfield that has had a lot of trouble finding a replacement for Thomas Partey after his Arsenal departure. Even when they won the league they were not the solid defensive squad of old.
What Life After Simeone Would Look Like
At this point it’s looking like Atlético just need to go ahead and rip the band-aid that is Diego Simeone off, and find a coach that can provide this team with a new identity. That’s going to be easier said than done though. For one there’s the financial aspect. If the team fires Simeone they’ll owe him a ton of money to not coach the team. The man earns around 40 plus million dollars to do so! He’s the highest paid manager in the game today.
After dealing with the financial hurdle management would have to find a manager that they believe could bring some new ideas to the team. Maybe keeping the Simeone grit and intensity around is a good idea, but with someone who is more tactically sound in the manager’s chair. The sad truth for Atlético is that there aren’t many quality managers walking around Europe at the time, particularly ones without a job. They may be inclined to look to Argentina once again, and take a chance on someone like Marcelo Gallardo. Although he’d be a complete novice as a manager, to the European game!
