we're halfway through La Liga and considering what the outset looked like at the beginning of the Season what the conversation looked like surrounding who would be dominant and who would flop all of a sudden it feels like we've been thrust into another Simeone season now what do I mean by a Simeone season his time with atleti is cyclical just when it looks like he's had a season where his power has dropped where his old tricks aren't working anymore where it feels like the players aren't buying in anymore suddenly it all clicks together and if Real
Madrid and Barca are sleeping and stumbling if they're not at their best ATL is there to clear things up we're seeing that this season where Atletico are top of the table ahead of Real Madrid by a point ahead of the fast starting Barcelona by three points now compare this season's Atletico to last season and the difference isn't remarkable just three points after 18 matches but the difference in their standing has been how Real Madrid are four points worse than last season but distilling it down to point accumulations and how their rivals aren't as strong as
they were last season doesn't do at lety Justice what they have done so far this season has been remarkable matching some of the best form they've ever seen under Simeone going back to the fall of 2012 when at lety won 13 consecutive matches and they've done so with their familiar athletic grit and thanks to insane contributions from their substitutes elephant in the room well elephant is the room visiting family but figured I'd get one last video out to you guys in 2024 so hey let's go let's have some fun Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simone
says he's desperate to get the La Liga season started with his side opening against lante on Sunday the last time Atletico went nuclear with the wins the last time they couldn't stop winning like this was back in 2015 when they were around their previous Peak just won La Liga just made a Champions League final and we going to make another one in 2016 in 2015 they won nine matches consecutively but even before that in 2012 they won 13 matches consecutively Sim On's best ever run of wins they were a completely different side back then this
is when a 21-year-old tibo ctoa was still with at lady when you'd find names like Diego Godin Felipe Luiz Juan Fran Gabby EMR fala Aran Diego Kosta at this time Atletico was about a year and a half into Diego Simone's tenure with the club and were slowly falling into the mold of the Argentinian manager far before they even dreamed that he would be sticking around for a further 13 years and as of now now coming within one match of replicating that run of winning matches that ran from August 27th to October 31st 2012 it's crazy
to think that like I was alluding to earlier in the intro Diego Simeone has been able to stick around at Atletico Madrid for this long there have been times where I thought you know he was at the end of his rope and that the end was near for him similarly to how players in their 30s can have a sudden drop off good one month and then it's like their age hits them all at once and causes them to have a severe drop in performance and suddenly Saudi Arabia beckons it feels like a similar thing can
happen with coaches especially those that have been at a club for an extended period of time semone has been at at letti for an extended extended period of time in relative terms it's like he owns The Club at this point and every time it felt like that drop was coming that his methods don't work anymore he's found a way to revitalize the club he's found a new way to win matches and this season it's come from the breadth of his Squad the entirety of his Squad is contributing in the last hour with this statement from
Manchester City there's a lot of mutual respect between the club and Alvarez they accepted this was an opportunity that he wanted to take no doubt atleti made a massive Splash in the transfer market this season as the 2023 24 season saw them look a little bit depleted once they started to make substitutions you could see the quality of atleti waning slipping away if they wanted to compete with a team such as Real Madrid then they would need some massive upgrades particularly ly in the striker and defense positions an aging injury-plagued Morata in the attack backed
up by a departing Memphis toie as well as often having to lean on someone like 33-year-old Stephan savage or Axel vitell at Center back a guy who played as a midfielder throughout the rest of his career simply wouldn't allow atleti to contend with the top teams in Europe let alone Spain and so the clear out happened Jean Felix Morata Savage soyu and poista were the big names to get permanent moves away giving it lettera room to bring in players to revitalize their squad and that they did also with Saul being another notable departure a spot
in the Midfield opened up of which Connor gallinger took it was an immediate hit with the supporters who fell in love with their English fella who at least attempted to speak some broken Spanish at his [Applause] [Music] unveiling Gallagher was criticized by some Chelsea supporters for not offering enough on the technical side of the game well with the London Club but he has the exact kind of athleticism and tenacity that a coach like Diego Simone would fall in love with while he hasn't been a Mainstay in the lineups he's been utilized in central Midfield as
well as in The Wider positions similar but not exactly the same as how Simeone previously took an athletic player in Marcos yente from a defensive Midfield position to becoming a great right back or right midfielder the striker position was where Atletico needed the most help they previously had to lean upon the contributions of players such as antoan Griezmann or anel Korea while they ERS were sleeping form wise or injured but they invested massively in this department julan Alvarez was of course the biggest splash and his impact has been immediate in two ways actually Man City
are suffering without an alternative highlighting further just how integral he was in contributing to their previous success and on top of this Alvarez has taken hold of his starring role at Atletico Madrid well contributing in 12 goals and two assists so far this season across all competitions but even more impressive perhaps given it lety spent half as much on him has been Alexander soro's impact in his 18 La Liga appearances he scored eight goals and assisted twice the man has started just seven La Liga matches more on him later Euro 2024 winner Robin Le normal
was prized away from ra soad and while he had a scary moment with a head injury he's back now and featuring off of the bench for Atletico in his stad another recent addition the lone signing of Barcelona's Persona Ngata Claymont longay has stepped in and looked very very good during this winning run he's looking like the player he was at seevilla once again a lot was spent by atleti on their squad this summer and so far they've had a great return on their investment now while Fitness coaches aren't exactly seen as the sexiest signings out
there you won't see fabrio Romano for example tweeting about Fitness coaching here we goes very often there are a few that catch headlines though like the legendary Antonio pintus well it's also fair to say that Atletico Madrid have benefited greatly from one of their new signings this summer being Fitness coach Luis Pinedo Pinedo has been a revolution with some fans even calling him a miracle worker injuries had been a major problem for Diego Simeone in the past with notable absences causing issues in performance as one would expect right but now it's not only an improved
Squad with good Alternatives off of the bench but Simeone is actually able to utilize his whole Squad given everyone has thus far stayed healthy in comparison to not just other teams in Europe but compared to previous seasons for atleti as noted by the Twitter account Atletico stats from July 2023 to the end of November 2023 Atletico had 20 injuries while under the fitness guidance of el Pro Ortega this season in that same stretch Atletico Madrid have had just eight injuries and none of them have been of any note Beyond loral which was an anomaly we're
seeing guys like Jose Maria gimenez have one of their best Seasons with atti as he has always been a good Defender but would constantly have his rhythm disrupted with injury even a guy like Antoine Griezmann at 33 years old is reaping the benefits another season where he'll undoubtedly hit double digits in goals and assists he could do that by the end of January early February something like that and when you look to it let's Never Say Die attitude and how they are coming from losing positions or completely changing the game in the second half a
lot of that credit goes to Simeone substitutions he's making and that is it what a win for Atletico Madrid now against FC Barcelona away Atletico Madrid didn't play so well in fact they have never really been great against Barcelona under Diego Simeone especially when they play away Simeone had failed to beat Barca away every single time every time in his 13 years in charge of Atletico Madrid and even after the match this latest one Simone spoke of how Atletico was lucky they stank it up for about 60 minutes or so Barcelona namely levandowski missed great
chances but if you don't bury a team there's a chance they'll bury you and that's exactly what it let he did depal with a goal he probably couldn't replicate right and then a late Dagger from sorof soro's contribution was yet another from Simone's bench and not just from him though he has scored five goals in the lia while coming off of the bench but in general Simeone substitutes are doing the business according to this article from the athletic and New York Times on December 19th so prior to the Barcelona match Atletico Madrid have had more
goal contributions by their substitutes than any other team in Europe's top five leagues when that article came out Atley Subs had contributed with 18 goals and 12 assists so 30 goal contributions total 10 more than second place Lazio however that number climbed to 32 against FC Barcelona recently Nel Molina and Alexander sorloth were both second half substitutes and they combined for the 96th minute winner against Barcelona anhel Korea has always been an impactful player off of the bench for atleti and this season is no different five goals off of the bench across all competitions and
part of this is down to Diego Simoni actually starting to make his changes earlier than any other coach in La Liga at the moment averaging a first substitution around the 63rd minute of the second half at the opposite end of the spectrum is Real Madrid who on average make their first change around the 75th minute Simeon is giving his substitutes plenty of time to make an impact and when combined with it let's rejuvenated Never Say Die attitude this ter no team in the top five leagues has plucked more points from the jaws of defeat than
atleti 15 points rescued from losing positions one more than Man City in that regard when you combine everything we spoke of Prior it makes sense atleti rejuvenated their squad in the market this summer ensuring that now they have players that would otherwise be very competent starters coming off of the bench then you inject them with the new fitness that their new fitness coach peda has supplied and allow Simeone to provide the Magic Touch of mentality and enough time in the second half to make an impact and teams are having a hard time dealing with their
energy sevilla's coach pimenta said as much when he said quote Atletico Subs came on with so much energy and freshness it seemed like those who came on were better than those going off because they practically have two incredible squads and for that reason you'd be silly to count Atley out of the La Liga title race if they run a form as well as their of Health continues then this could be another Simeone season thanks as always for watching guys a bit weird from the bed but I'll see you in the new year okay love you
be well
