Five transfer decisions that explain Atlético Madrid’s terrible start to 2021/22
Diego Simeone will celebrate 10 years in charge of Atlético Madrid on Thursday, yet it’s in this week that the Argentine has lost three consecutive LaLiga Santander matches for the first time. Saturday night’s 2-1 loss at Sevilla followed a 2-0 reverse against Real Madrid in last weekend’s derby and the shock 2-1 defeat at home to Real Mallorca the weekend before that.
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They were champions last year, but now Atlético Madrid are stuck in fifth place in the table and they could end this weekend 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid if Carlo Ancelotti’s side do the business against Cádiz on Sunday night.
Atletico Madrid had NEVER lost three league games in a row under Diego Simeone. They have now.
— The Spanish Football Podcast (@tsf_podcast) December 18, 2021
So, what has happened for a team that was so good in 2020/21 to present such a weak title defence? Here comes a look at five transfer decisions that set up this situation.
1. Going into the season with just four centre-backs
Perhaps the most baffling of Atlético Madrid’s transfer decisions was that they came into the 2021/22 season with just four centre-backs, even though this is a team that won the league last season by playing a back three.
Having Stefan Savic, José María Giménez, Mario Hermoso and Felipe was never going to be enough and so it is proving, with the current run of defeats taking place with Savic and Giménez both out injured and with Geoffrey Kondogbia having to drop into the back line.
Making this even more bizarre, Atlético Madrid knew before the start of the season that Savic had a four-match UEFA ban, so they essentially approached the Champions League group stage with just three centre-backs. This was a major reason for their struggles in the competition and, even though they qualified for the last 16 in the end, their group stage campaign was a disaster.
2. Atleti miss their utility man
Saúl Ñíguez’s move from Atlético Madrid to Chelsea is one that has seen every party suffer. The player isn’t enjoying his time in England, Chelsea haven’t enjoyed any benefit from having him and Atlético Madrid miss him.
While it’s true that the Spaniard’s performances in his last couple of years at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano were below par, he was still very useful and a favourite of Simeone because of his versatility.
With Atleti having suffered several injuries so far this season, having Saúl would have been a big boost since he could have plugged so many of these holes.
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3. Too many forwards
The opportunity to re-sign Antoine Griezmann was too good for Atlético Madrid to turn down, but maybe they should have. Even though the Frenchman has been one of their best performers so far, with his absence actually contributing to this run of back-to-back-to-back losses, he doesn’t slot into Simeone’s plans as seamlessly as he used to.
João Félix was signed to be Griezmann’s replacement, so having both of these players means they are actually getting in each other’s way. Griezmann’s presence has blocked the path to the starting line-up for the young Portuguese, while the Frenchman’s inclusion in the XI has also halted the incredible progress Ángel Correa had been making over the past year.
With Matheus Cunha signed too to be the long-term replacement for Luis Suárez, which actually seems a sensible decision, there are six forwards in this squad and that’s a problem when Simeone tends to only play two at a time.
4. No competition for Jan Oblak
Jan Oblak has long been one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best. This comes with its own problems, though, as no up-and-coming shot-stopper wants to sign for Atlético Madrid since they know that their minutes on the pitch will be limited to the Copa del Rey and the occasional start if or when the Slovenian is injured.
As a result, Atlético Madrid have changed backup goalkeeper almost every summer for the past few years. It was no different in the summer of 2021, as Ivo Grbic went off to Lille and Benjamin Lecomte came in from Monaco for a shift warming the bench.
This constant change can have a downside and the lack of a genuine competitor to Oblak can let complacency set in. The goalkeeper hasn’t had a good start to 2021/22 and there are surely various reasons for this, but the lack of jeopardy surely plays a role.
5. All their eggs in the De Paul basket
Essentially, all the problems with Atleti’s construction of their 2021/22 squad stem from the fact that they put all their eggs in the Rodrigo de Paul basket. Winning the race to sign the Argentine midfielder was a major coup and he has already shown flashes of his brilliance, but this was the 11th most expensive transfer of the summer at €35m and left next to nothing for sporting director Andrea Berta to put towards other areas.
This has contributed to the Colchoneros’ squad being so lop-sided and unbalanced. It also explains why they only have 22 players in the first-team squad, making it the joint-smallest squad in LaLiga Santander. That means that one or two injuries or suspensions can leave Atleti down to the bare bones and that’s exactly what has happened to start this 2021/22 season.
