Thomas Lemar is a new man. With confidence, security in his game, a winning mentality, continuity, commitment to the team and an intensity that has never been seen until now, the Frenchman goes through his best moment as an rojiblanco when he stands to five matches of the 100 as athletic, something that entitles him to a plaque on the Paseo de las Leyendas del Wanda Metropolitano.
If Vitolo was by far the closest player to achieving it, the canary has only participated in the two Cup matches of the last eleven in which he has been available for Simeone. The '20' is disappeared from the map when he accumulated 96 games in the club, for the 95 of a Lemar who sees him much closer after being starter in eight consecutive league games for the first time since his arrival from Monaco.
And that version is the one that is being found. That of the Monegasque club where he was a fundamental player in offensive transitions, linking the center of the field with the forward thanks to its quality. Lemar has found its place in this new Simeone system, in a more focused position and closer to Koke, the player who moves the team. El Cholo has renounced his pivots, placing the captain as an anchor, to accommodate the '11'. Against Valencia, the Frenchman put the center with which João Félix tied the game with an acrobatic shot in Atlético's first corner kick this season and Lemar's first assist in the league since April 24, 2019, curiously also against the che team, on that occasion for Griezmann.
After a year to zero (neither goals nor assists), Lemar has been found again. He returned to see the door against Valladolid a year and a half later and would repeat in the Cup against Cardassar. He would also assist João in the Champions League against Salzburg. But his main change has been mental. Now he is liberated and convinced in what he does. He's the first to push, cover and sacrifice for the team. Thanks to his liveliness, he got ahead of Maxi Gómez in a play where the referee pointed to Lemar's dangerous play, but it could well have been a penalty.
The footballer himself explained it in France Football: “There was a lack of adaptation on my part. I said it. It took me a long time to adapt to the system and the Atlético style of play. Now that I understand and understand everything better, things are much better. I feel like I have this DNA in me. I have in me that fight for all the balls, that I am a conqueror, that I always want to win, that I am always under pressure, that I am always in duels, that I always play forward. That is Atlético. And now that I have understood and assimilated all that, I am giving it my all and he is doing quite well on the field in recent months. I'm very happy”.
Lemar already feels important in the dressing room (is working as a translator between Dembélé and Simeone) and look forward to the next European Championship. The Frenchman is one of the great recoveries in Simeone's squad. Your transition has been much longer than expected, but with 25 years he has found his place in the team. And a player of such quality can be decisive. El Cholo knows that it is his moment, and that is why he does not stop squeezing him in this period of the season. It seems that finally, the best Lemar has arrived at Atlético when he is about to become, at least numerically, a red and white legend.