Rodrigo de Paul made his debut with the Atlético shirt, although so far it has only been in a friendly match. The Argentine midfielder is the great rojiblanco signing of what is going on in the summer, and one of the main incorporations of LaLiga after his fantastic Copa América And I was willing to start answering on the grass reason for which he brought forward the return of his vacation a week.
De Paul joined the team along with Giménez and Carrasco, players eliminated in the quarterfinals of international tournaments, and like the Uruguayan and the Belgian, they had their first minutes of the preseason in front of Cádiz in Carranza. The three played the first half, with Cholo looking to dose his first efforts of the course and take care of his physical condition with little more than a week training. Simeone resorted to the training that gave him such a good result last year, with a line of three centrals, two very offensive lanes and three players generating football in the engine room.
There stood De Paul, slightly ahead of Kondogbia and outlined on the right side, his favorite space. The Argentine tried to combine a lot with the pivot, go down to receive and be a clean exit of the ball from behind. His presence allowed Lemar to be freed ahead and outlined to the left, Saúl's lane. The '8' started very active and De Paul constantly looked for his incorporations with long balls behind the rival side, one of his great virtues. He also tried to get along with Carrasco, the scorer and this time in the right lane and was a bodyguard for the Belgian, guarding his position when he was deployed in attack.
It was a few minutes of scoring for De Paul, who still has to adapt to the Atlético scheme and mark his position on the field. How is normal, Tactically he has to gain weight and enhance understanding with his teammates. But it was a first half to gain sensations, physicality and showing that it can be important from day one. At 27 years old, he is in the best moment of his career and wants to be a key player at Atlético without the need for adaptation. On Sunday they will have a new test against Feyenoord prior to the start of the League in Balaídos. Simeone knows that she has a warrior in De Paul who can bring her many joys.