Simeone, nine years at Atleti | Simeone, nine years changing the history of Atlético

December 23, 2011 Few people could predict that Atlético would change its centuries-old history so completely. Perhaps only that Argentine in a suit and tie who, together with his coaching staff, with Mono Burgos and Profe Ortega at the head, he took the reins of a team that combined newcomers with a lot of talent (Falcao, Diego, Arda, Adrián …) with terrible results, after being eliminated in Copa del Rey by Albacete, Second Division B, and occupy the eleventh position in League without having won a single away game.

Nine years ago Simeone returned to Atlético closed his stage as a player, where he had led the center of the field of the Doublet and he had lived part of his last years of career with the team back to the First Division, and became a coach who had managed in Argentina to Racing, Estudiantes, with whom he came out champion, River and San Lorenzo and Italian Catania in its only precedent in Europe. From different sources it was understood as a wrong decision, it was considered a patch to choose a coach with no experience in LaLiga and without having tried in European competitions.

However, the rojiblanca fans welcomed the news as the return of an idol, someone who had left his life and soul for Atlético and the figure to cling to to become great again. Of course, Cholo did not want to be valued for what he had previously achieved, but for what was to come. And so, with the 'match by match' by flag, led their first meeting on January 7, 2012 against Málaga to finish adding his first point (0-0). Of that team, made up of Courtois, Perea, Godín, Domínguez, Filipe, Tiago, Gabi, Juanfran, Salvio, Diego and Falcao Only memories prevail. The first eleven in history that was to come with Simeone on the bench.

A story that has reached 498 meetings with numbers that speak for themselves: 299 wins, 115 draws, 83 losses, 843 goals in favor (1.7 per game) and 383 against (0.77). In that period they have arrived seven titles (LaLiga, two Europa League, the Copa del Rey, two European Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup) that make him the club's most successful coach and two Champions have escaped his fingertips. But mainly the club's greatness has been recovered after decades adrift. And, to know where you have come, you have to know where you come from.

Atlético started in 2012 with 60,000 members, two only participations in Champions in the 21st century (in one eliminated in groups and another in eighth) and in number 23 in the UEFA ranking with 70,463 points. If the new generations have become accustomed to success, they were unattainable goals until the arrival of Simeone. In 2017, at five years with the coach, 100,000 members were reached, increasing the number year after year, the team placed second in the UEFA rankings (takes into account the five previous years) with 133,871 points and the economic debt was shortened despite the change of status to the Metropolitan Wanda. Now the year 2020 comes to an end with more than 130,000 members, fifth in the UEFA coefficient with 115,000 points and no trace of that debt, although the coronavirus pandemic has removed the economic accounts.

Atlético has finished eight years in a row among the top three classified, all since Simeone directed his first full season to achieve the most stable stage that has ever been experienced. One first place, two second places and five third places. That league title in the 2013-14 season marked the Historic points record for the team with 90 and goals with 77. In the European Cup, it had been reached a single final (now there are three), two semifinals (now three) and two quarters (now four). And in the Europa League the showcase has tripled from one title to three. Atlético has gone from having only two world champions in its ranks (Fillol and Vavá), to seven: the return of towers with the star on your chest, exploding Luke from the quarry and the incorporations of Villa, Lemar, Griezmann. And the defensive fortress has added six Zamoras (two from Courtois and four from Oblak) to a club that had achieved another six in all its previous history.

El Cholo has finished with all the complexes of a team with ever higher dreams. Atlético wore since 1996, with Simeone himself on the pitch, without winning the League or the Copa del Rey and since 1999 without defeating Real Madrid. The white team is the one that the technician has measured the most times in fierce duels. A total of 33 games (nine wins, ten draws and fourteen losses), but always looking from you to you at a maximum rival who had completely undermined the rojiblancos. The end of fourteen years without winning came on an unforgettable night for the rojiblanca fans, at the Santiago Bernabéu and to lift the 2013 Copa del Rey title. LaLiga would be conquered at the Camp Nou adding the necessary point against Barcelona, ​​whom he would eliminate twice in the quarterfinals in the Champions League. Teams of the highest European elite such as Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus, Milan or Borussia Dortmund they have gone through the knife of an Atlético that has become a racing machine.

One of Simeone's great achievements has been knowing squeeze the most out of your footballers. Players who have made a huge leap in quality by passing through their hands and whose exits the coach has had to replace year after year. El Cholo has adapted his style, built from an impenetrable defense, to enhance the qualities of its players, living a constant evolution in their schemes.

A primal Atlético in which Falcao was the visible head and its great scorer and where a second row full of quality, with Diego, Arda and Adrián at the controls, they put the last pass for the Colombian. An Atlético who played closer to the rival area to supply balls to a colossal '9', who during his rojiblanco stage achieved 70 goals in 91 games and lived the best days of his career.

With his departure to Monaco, Atlético opted for a town that he still had goals to offer LaLiga. The title came with a team that bit in every game, all involved in pressure and with a brutal capacity to go out at speed with Diego Costa as the spearhead. The Spanish-Brazilian was the leader of that dream team and finished the course with 27 goals in the League plus eight in the Champions League to reach a final in which he could only participate for eight minutes. That summer he would go to Chelsea and again he would have to rebuild.

The technician would look again and find a new star. A young Griezmann, at that time more extreme than a game generator, would end up being the leader of the new rojiblanco project. Yes in defense Juanfran, Miranda, Godín and Filipe they remained immovable despite the passing of the years, in attack the movement was constant. The Frenchman was gaining gallons and weight (third in the 2016 Ballon d'Or) both in front of the door and in the last pass, changing each year of the pair up: Mandzukic, Jackson, Torres, Gameiro, the return of Diego Costa or Morata until saying goodbye to the club after five years as the top scorer in each course.

Griezmann, together with several heavyweights, shelved a project that had been wearing out and was fading, each time with worse offensive numbers and a more leading Oblak. But, from its ashes, it has been reborn. A year of transition for João Félix, Llorente, Trippier, Lodi, Hermoso and company will find their place ideal before dreaming of the highest heights again. This new Atlético, who alternates his line of four behind with one of three centrals and two lanes, seeks to have more possession and be a protagonist with the ball in matches. Everything for provide balls to Luis Suárez, that has brought back the figure of the classic '9' goal scorer in the area and that can facilitate the progression of a João Félix called to lead the rojiblanco attack in the coming years.

If the pieces of the board have been changing, it has not been so with the person in charge of directing them. Simeone's 498 games on the mattress bench place him as the second coach who has directed Atlético the most. Another great myth, Don Luis Aragonés, is the only one that surpasses him. The Sage of Hortaleza was 611 games at the controls of the team, with a balance of 307 victories, 135 draws and 169 defeats. In LaLiga history, Simeone is already the third coach with the most matches directed at the same club (338), only surpassed by Luis, also with Atlético (407) and Miguel Muñoz (424) with Real Madrid.

If most of the team's references have been changing, there is one that has always been. The current captain was already here when Simeone arrived. A Koke who knows what it is to live nine years under the command of Simeone, 3,285 days led by the technician for which it has always been essential. Koke and Cholo have been meeting challenges in parallel. The vallecano, which became yesterday the player with the most wins in the club's history and the third with the most matches, He had doubts about his future in that January 2012. The few opportunities in the eleven and the interest of teams like Malaga, at that time in Europe, could cause his presence in the club to be questioned.

But, from day one, Simeone predicted that it would end up being important. And so, Koke has been adding appearances, titles, goals and assists as probably the most important player of the Cholista era. The Atleti crest on the pitch, the engine that has always honored the jersey with sweat and heart, understanding like no one that effort is not negotiated and picking up the glove of his teacher Gabi. If Koke has been the benchmark for all the new rojiblancas generations, 34 homegrown players have made their debut with the first team under the command of Simeone. The last to do so, Sanabria and Ricard in the Cup. But four names stand out above the rest: Saúl Ñíguez, Thomas Partey, Lucas Hernández and Óliver Torres. All of them with a plaque in the Wanda Metropolitano and the first with a lot of history ahead. At 25, and after debuting on March 8, 2012, Saúl has played 310 games under Simeone's orders and although he is not going through his best moment, he is one of his most trusted players.

And it is that if something has wanted to promote Cholo since his arrival, it is that athletic feeling that has always accompanied him and it has invaded the Vicente Calderón and later the Wanda Metropolitano. A scenario that counts the hours to be able to refill its stands while the pandemic is overcome. The club has established itself at the top of world football despite having much lower budgets than its rivals and has taken the word compete to the utmost extreme. “If you believe and work, you can.” And it is that there are no impossible from the hand of a Simeone who will always be remembered as the coach who changed the history and the pace of Atlético de Madrid.