{"id":301144,"date":"2023-12-02T01:25:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T01:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=301144"},"modified":"2023-12-02T01:25:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T01:25:15","slug":"pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone: Atletico Madrid boss shrugs off defensive tactics for attacking flair<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Diego Simeone has swapped Atletico&#8217;s defensive tactics for attacking flair<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>And Jude Bellingham ensured Joselu got on the Real Madrid scoresheet\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Manchester United in a mess &#8211; they have a collapse in them &#8211; It&#8217;s All Kicking Off<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It&#8217;s an epiphany worthy of Saul \u2014 and that\u2019s not a reference to the Atletico Madrid midfielder. Diego Simeone has seen the light, the scales having fallen from his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>He took charge of his 100th game in the Champions League in midweek \u2014 only Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson had previously clocked up a century at the same club. And his team won, taking their goals tally to 15, only Arsenal and Manchester City have scored as many.<\/p>\n<p>When Simeone\u2019s Atletico Madrid side faced Pep Guardiola\u2019s team in the Champions League quarter-finals two seasons ago, the Argentine had become a parody of himself \u2014 a mean- spirited tactician whose sterile football was an affront to the talent he had available and the poor punters paying to watch it.<\/p>\n<p>He played a 5-5-0 formation in the first leg at the Etihad and lost 1-0. His apologists justified the game plan as a way of staying in the tie.<\/p>\n<p>But in the second leg the team remained negative in the first half and although they finally went for it after the break it was too little, too late.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/02\/00\/78491481-12816505-image-a-37_1701475785911.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Diego Simeone has finally brought a more attacking flair to Atletico Madrid after many years<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/02\/00\/78491479-12816505-image-a-38_1701475865617.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Simeone\u00a0took charge of his 100th Atletico Madrid game in the Champions League in midweek<\/p>\n<p>Former Atletico striker Paulo Futre posted on social media at midnight after the match: \u2018Are City still time-wasting?\u2019. It was rich coming from Atletico, to criticise a team for defending a 1-0 lead. That had been Simeone\u2019s greatest trick, but he could no longer make it work and he had nothing else.<\/p>\n<p>For years Atletico directors had urged him to play a more attractive brand of football. Ever since the club signed Rodri from Villarreal in 2018 that had been the road map.<\/p>\n<p>But he resisted. He had been an attacking coach in Argentina but had changed in Europe and his defensive style at Atletico had won two leagues.<\/p>\n<p>Rodri only lasted a year with him before joining Guardiola at Manchester City and other signings also designed to provoke a change failed to force his hand. Then came, not so much the road to Damascus as the flight to Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>When club football stopped for the World Cup, Atletico were outside the Champions League places. A clause in Simeone\u2019s contract meant he would have to renegotiate it in the event of not making top four and with only a year and a half left, that suggested a parting of the ways.<\/p>\n<p>The football was dour and the supporters were divided. It was like the last days of Wenger at Arsenal \u2014 half said things would be worse if he left; half accepted it was time to move on.<\/p>\n<p>But Simeone was revitalised by the World Cup that began this time last year.<\/p>\n<p>While players got fatigued and fans missed their club football, he was immersing himself in the tournament, being inspired by things he saw in the performances of Spain, winners Argentina, and others, that he wanted to implement back home.<\/p>\n<p>Atletico\u2019s second half of last season was so good, it would have been enough to win them La Liga had they not been so poor up until December.<\/p>\n<p>They have taken that form into this campaign and if they beat Barcelona on Sunday and win their game in hand they will be six points clear of Xavi\u2019s side, and a point behind Real Madrid who they have already beaten.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/02\/00\/78491537-12816505-image-a-39_1701476013331.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Keeper Jan Oblak makes an average 17 successful passes per game , after work in training<\/p>\n<p>Simeone is still playing with a back five, but the ultra-offensive Nahuel Molina is the right wing- back, and converted wingers Rodrigo Riquelme and Samuel Lino alternate on the left.<\/p>\n<p>His centre backs have to take responsibility to play passes that break through lines. Converted midfielder Axel Witsel and the cultured Mario Hermoso, who is also encouraged to overlap his wing-back, do it well.<\/p>\n<p>They are helped by how much closer together the lines of the team are and by the brilliance of Antoine Griezmann. Keeper Jan Oblak, according to Opta Stats, has even gone from playing 8.5 successful passes per game in his first season, to 17 in the present \u2014 the result of hours of work on the training ground with keeper coach Pablo Vercellone and Simeone.<\/p>\n<p>And work is still the key for the Atletico coach \u2014 intensity has been gained not lost with the change of style. From being on the brink 12 months ago, Simeone has just signed a new deal until 2027. And this is no longer the tale of a man hanging on at a club frozen in time with their hard-headed leader.<\/p>\n<p>Instead it\u2019s the story of a coach who went stale, then went to a World Cup and came back a changed man \u2014 ready to transform his team into Europe\u2019s top scorers and La Liga\u2019s entertainers.<\/p>\n<h2>Jude Bellingham&#8217;s generous gesture<\/h2>\n<p>Hopefully there will be many great nights in Jude Bellingham\u2019s career that are far more important than Wednesday\u2019s Champions League group game with Napoli.<\/p>\n<p>But whatever he goes on to achieve, there will be some Real Madrid supporters, years from now, who will still recall the night Bellingham faced Napoli and made sure team-mate Joselu didn\u2019t finish the match at the Bernabeu without scoring.<\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid\u2019s reserve centre forward had squandered more chances since coming on five minutes into the second half than some strikers at struggling clubs get in entire seasons. As the clock ticked down he seemed to be missing by an ever-increasing margin. Bellingham already had his goal. And he had run 11km, despite going over badly on his ankle in the first half, and had his ninth man-of-the-match award sewn up.<\/p>\n<p>The game was won at 3-2 with top spot in Group C sealed but Bellingham was on a mission.<\/p>\n<p>In the 92nd minute he dribbled down the left and with the outside of his right foot crossed to the back post where Joselu finally scored.<\/p>\n<p>The striker, pushed towards the supporters by Bellingham, then apologised for all the misses and milked a little glory. There will be bigger displays down the road but for generosity that Bellingham performance will take some beating.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/02\/00\/78491539-12816505-image-m-41_1701476137441.jpg\" height=\"400\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jude Bellingham&#8217;s stoppage time pass ensured that Joselu got on the Real Madrid scoresheet<\/p>\n<h2>Five to watch this weekend<\/h2>\n<p>It is now 18 wins in 19 games for Xabi Alonso\u2019s Bayer Leverkusen and Thursday\u2019s 2-0 win over Hacken came with the bonus of Patrik Schick\u2019s first goal in nine months.<\/p>\n<p>The Czech striker scored 24 goals in 26 starts before injury wrecked his last season.<\/p>\n<p>His comeback is perfectly timed with top scorer Victor Boniface off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in January.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s another boost for Alonso as he tries to wrestle the Bundesliga from Bayern Munich. Harry Kane and Co ought to go back top on Saturday against second bottom Union Berlin. Alonso\u2019s team will return to the summit if they beat Borussia Dortmund at home in Germany\u2019s game of the weekend on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/02\/00\/78491541-12816505-image-a-42_1701476197799.jpg\" height=\"653\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12816505\/PETE-JENSON-reinvention-Diego-Simeone-Atletico-Madrid-boss-shrugs-defensive-tactics-attacking-flair.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone: Atletico Madrid boss shrugs off defensive tactics for attacking flair Diego Simeone has <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone: Atletico Madrid boss shrugs off defensive tactics for attacking flair Diego Simeone has &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PETE-JENSON-The-reinvention-of-Diego-Simeone-and-Atletico-Madrid.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/\",\"name\":\"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons","og_description":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone: Atletico Madrid boss shrugs off defensive tactics for attacking flair Diego Simeone has &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PETE-JENSON-The-reinvention-of-Diego-Simeone-and-Atletico-Madrid.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/","name":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-02T01:25:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/pete-jenson-the-reinvention-of-diego-simeone-and-atletico-madrid\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"PETE JENSON: The reinvention of Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}