This match doesn’t represent any turning point, but it seemed more like a fun scrimmage and a chance for the team to warm up for the weekend match at Depor. Onto the next round we go, and must hope that we don’t run into Barca like we did last year. This cup could be the season’s saving grace.

7 points from 10 matches played.

Catastrophic? Indeed. The team is doing so bad, that the inconsistent and unpredictable Atletico of last year is dearly missed. You could have at least expected some wins from last years version, despite them being able to lose to the likes of Osasuna and Valladolid at home. This year’s version however, is so bad that the diehard fans had no choice but to take their protesting right outside the training grounds. They are also wondering if or why Atletico’s best players would even bother sticking with the team after all of this.

It all seemed lovely when Atletico finally qualified for the Champions League last season. Win after win, Forlan netting goals like nothing, and a team spirit to feel proud made people believe that Atleti definitely had what it takes to consider themselves a Champions League team. For a team that hasn’t won anything in over a decade, it was almost dreamlike to watch Atletico become one of the best sides in Spain even after Barca had steamrolled over every team already. As I like to say often, “a true joy to watch”.

This season, those few flaws that we noticed all of last season are exactly what is bringing the team down. Everything from the crap defense, to the average performance of the midfield, and the bad luck of the attack.

On the Madrid derby…

All I’ll say is that you could definitely see a true difference in the quality of both sides. I say this more in a “passionate side against a not-as-passionate side” way, never will I agree that Real Madrid is a great club. Each one of Real’s goals was sublime, and each showed a flaw in our very own squad. Kaka’s first was scored after the ball was completely stolen from one of our players, and I’m talking about “F off this ball is mine” stolen. The second goal, Marcelo’s cracker, showed how crap our central defense is as Pablo (one of our best defenders, which is nothing to be proud of really) was outrun by Marcelo who later smashed the ball in from an improbably angle, when it could have been blocked. The third goal, if you saw it, was pretty much Higuain running a circle around Perea and slotting the ball in, reminiscent of those days when you play FIFA on easy to relieve stress and score 20 against MK Dons playing as Brazil. It looked that easy for him.

The team should have still be applauded for their hard work in the second half, as Atleti woke up when Sergio Ramos was sent off (did that even have to happen for Atleti to start trying?) and was able to slot in two goals. A comeback was in progress, reminiscent of last year’s most memorable matches, and after a frustrating dying minutes of the match where Aguero could have equalized and cemented another classic match, we lost again and the decade of no wins was complete. All this could have prevented, hate to say, with a better defense. So obvious but very true. None of those goals in the first half should have gone in.

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I was actually laughing at Villarreal at the beginning of the season, as they were the other team that was doing worse than us and couldn’t even get one victory. This was around the time when Atletico defeated Zaragoza and seemed to have turned the corner. And now, watching them win all over again (especially that creaming of Lazio last week) is something that I’m actually envious of. I’m envious of the team with 9 points in the league. This crisis is no laughing matter, it’s been officially official for a few weeks already and it’s so bad that Quique Flores’ positive changes in the squad still haven’t been enough.

Speaking of Quique, it’s very unfortunate that his record so far is one draw and two losses in the past 3 matches (I’m not counting the match against Marbella). I hate to keep on bringing up the Chelsea match, but in that match you definitely saw what he brought to the team that Resino couldn’t. What I’m referring to was an increase in confidence in very important players (especially Reyes) and a system that was actually working. You have to give the man credit with what he’s working with here: a very small squad that can’t even field eleven players that are all each very good at what they do. Aka a shite defense and substitutes that are nowhere as effective as the starters. Quique is no messiah, but as long as his contribution has been positive, I’ll believe in him.

Now, the analysis begins:

Goalkeeper: Sergio Asenjo was a wise signing during the summer, as he was fairly inexpensive and was a very promising keeper that was an option for the long-run. However, I don’t feel very convinced in his qualities. I saw it when Frank Lampard shot that free kick during the match at Stamford Bridge, and Asenjo blocked the shot but still pushed it in and fell to the ground in pain. Keepers aren’t usually at fault if the defense is bad, but I don’t know, Leo Franco and even Gregory Coupet actually made me feel safe when they were in between the posts. Asenjo has been saved often this season by his best friend, the crossbars, and I actually preferred 18-year-old De Gea’s terrific performances. He played as if it were dream-like to make the first team (which it was, he’s from the youth team). Asenjo is good, but not the “next Casillas” that we expected to have. Nor is he Leo Franco.

Defense: Ugly. U-G-L-Y you aint’ got no alibi. Everything from the poor clearances, to the terrible pacing, to the abysmal aerial defense, is so hurtful to the team that it could possibly be considered the thing that is holding us back this season. So far into the league season, we are the team that has conceded the most goals at 22. I swear, you could probably get the Atletico B team defenders to replace ours and they’ll be just as talented or even better. Our defense is quite experienced at an average age of 29, but are probably playing at half of their potential at the moment. Luis Perea two years ago wouldn’t have been outrun by Gonzalo Higuain, and the Pablo Ibanez that was at World Cup 2006 would have blocked Marcelo’s bullet into the goal. As it stands, Quique will have to do with these players until the winter transfer window ( in which he BETTER sign some new players, or magically make these guys good by then) but for now there’s nothing that can be done except hope that they turn a new leaf.

Midfield: Not too bad. Paulo Assuncao could be a little less clumsy by getting less yellow cards (that’s probably like 6 or 7 this season so far) and Cleber Santana has definitely been trying. Simao isn’t having too great of a season, considering that he’s one of those players that would the difference in the match, and a former member of our fantastic 4. The right wing is kind of a mixed bag. Maxi has been doing good, and thanks to him we drew against Valencia. Reyes, however, is very skilled but not until recently has he begun to catch rhythm. Quique definitely confides in him and we’ll be seeing more of Reyes. Raul Garcia is a solid center midfielder as well, and he’s beginning to get more appearances after his injury. One player that I want to see more of is Nacho Camacho. So much potential and he’s finally available after his hip surgery. Some team somewhere is going to snatch him up if he doesn’t get playing time here, and he’ll become a superstar.

Attack: I can’t really complain here. Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero are beasts, as you all may already know, but what’s bugging me is Florent Sinama-Pongolle. Last season, he was the most solid of substitutes and had a terrific header that scored many important goals for us. This season, he’s definitely getting the minutes (largely in part to Aguero’s inability to play the full 90) but I’m guessing that Resino putting him in the right midfield did him no good in terms of being a solid striker once again. Jose Jurado is quite good, but as you saw in the Madrid derby, he has nothing on the likes of Aguero, despite them playing in the same position during that match. Simply put, we have two world-class strikers and substitutes that can’t even touch them in terms of quality. Even if Forlan and Aguero are world class, they still couldn’t score against 9 man Mallorca, so maybe in the present they are in better form but they still suffer from too many crossbars and wasted chances. However, Aguero has scored very excellent goals this season so far, and I’m actually expecting big things from him soon. Last year was the year of the Forlan, this year is the year of the Aguero.

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Many of you may be saying “you forgot to talk about the director’s board”. Yes, they are shite to the point where it’ll be legendary how badly the club is run. They have gone through many coaches, and have made stupid sales/signings, but I don’t even have time to talk about how bad they are. Maybe in a later post, but what’s important to me is the performance of the team, not the idiots behind the club.

If Atletico keep on losing, I won’t even bother reviewing matches any more. I wouldn’t even say anything that people don’t already know (”man our defense sucks” “typical Atletico!”) so why even bother. However, as blogger for my favorite club, I’m kinda obliged to lead you all through this catastrophe and when I need to, I shall. Those Atletico followers reading this, all I have to say is to stick behind the team and not start following someone else only because of the bad results. If you “feel” Atletico, then you are, so when better times come and you aren’t there, you’ll regret having left. I won’t leave.

We’re dumped out of the Champions League, but at the same time, have plenty to look forward to, and a performance to applaud. The team that played today was one that was absent all season and played with all their might. Chelsea was Chelsea, and Drogba was a beast as usual, but our response to them was Kun Aguero, who had one of his best matches in a long time. He only even played for 35 minutes!

It was a draw, but it was still good.

Atletico Madrid 2 – Chelsea 2:

1-0 65′ Aguero
1-1 82′ Drogba
1-2 88′ Drogba
2-2 90′ Aguero

The match

For the neutral, the first half was boring because of the lack of goals, but from the Atletico Madrid fan’s perspective, it was a breath of fresh air to see the team have superior possession and go toe-to-toe with Chelsea. With those 82 minutes of not conceding a goal, the defense was having one of its best matches ever. Good possession and solid tackles (especially Pablo) was something that the team hadn’t remembered how to do. Antonio Lopez made up for his shabby performances in the past, and he was one to thank for the first goal, because of his deflected shot. It truly was a shame to concede those two goals late into the match.

In the midfield, Assuncao was the same klutz as usual getting yellowed but still did well in his d-mid role. Cleber also did well moving the ball up and helping the attack. Reyes had a solid match as well and he had a terrific curling shot in the first half that looked like it was going in. Simao was the same player as usual, doing his part with crosses and helping the attack. Shame that Forlan didn’t have better luck scoring, and Sinama was getting owned all the time by the defense. It wasn’t until Kun Aguero came in that the attack finally found some flavor.

Drogba’s brace really was unfortunate. It was a shame that Drogba was able to jump a foot higher than any of our defenders, and Asenjo was unlucky to rebound the ball in front of Drogba to give him an easy tap-in. It felt like all the work during the entire match was all for nothing when Chelsea was a goal up.

Then Aguero scored the free kick. Completely unexpected but fitting, because we didn’t deserve to lose. Atleti played like a real team for most of the match, and we can say goodbye to the Champions League with dignity.

In many ways, we “won”. We won Pablo and Reyes’ confidence back from their good showing today. We also won the old Kun Aguero back, and a sense of team unity that is leaps and bounds better than the earlier parts of the season. From this point on, it feels like things will get better.

What now?

Europa League, that’s what. It is a more deserving place for the team at the moment, and is a trophy that will be possible to win. Just imagine Atletico using this match as the needed turning point. With a performance like today’s (minus conceding two) I am convinced that the team can go far into the Europa. All that’s needed is to secure a win or two, the next matchday hosting Porto and the following one away to APOEL. So at the moment, it’s Atletico vs APOEL contending for third place.

I’m not going to lie, I’m not too disappointed with third place. Could I honestly say that Atletico would go really far into the Champions League after what we’ve seen this season? It’s time for a more realistic trophy, one that we let slip away two years ago and one that we are more than capable now than ever to win.

The boys are making the effort and for that, we must appreciate it.

The mighty Chelsea is in town and despite the 4-0 thrashing that they gave us two weeks ago, our confidence is through the roof, according to Quique. What is there to be afraid of, to be honest? The fact is, they are group leaders and 2nd in the Premier League and we’re relegation fodder in La Liga and at the bottom of our group.

So I’ll be honest, man. There’s plenty to be scared of.

I mentioned in the last preview of how afraid I was of these two teams meeting up, and now it’s even worse because the same fear is there, with a 4-0 loss to them being the cherry on top of the fear sundae (forgive my bad metaphor, it’s late). The last time that these teams faced off, Chelsea was the only team on the pitch well-trained and organized, in other words, the only team with a chance of winning. Atletico, as you may all know, is capable of winning any match, but their erratic form and paper-thin defense is what holds us back from being one of the top clubs in Europe. It’s almost embarrassing. This season has been terrible so far, and our only win was somewhat lucky, against an inferior side that was inches away from equalizing anyway.

I’ve mentioned that it has been hard to see Atleti struggle like they have so far into the season, and facing Chelsea then Real Madrid next weekend isn’t helping. We were in a similar situation last season, after losing 6-1 to Barcelona then those “fixtures from hell” against Sevilla, Real Madrid, and Villarreal. After those, things picked up and we had an undefeated streak for about two months. In this case, we can’t afford to have things pick up after these two fixtures from hell. This is our participation in European competition on the line, and an important derby to win against our cousins the following weekend. The winning must begin tomorrow.

So far, I’m happy with what Quique has been doing with the team. It’s almost a breath of fresh air to see another hungry manager in charge, and even Kun Aguero is pleased with his “distinct methods of training”. Quique will demand the best from the team, and I’m confident that the squad will come out of its losing streak under him. The Copa del Rey victory was an easy match that helped the team realize its stupid mistakes, and the fighting spirit in the loss to Bilbao was the beginning to what would be an improvement over the early part of the season.

Chelsea will be Chelsea, and will still put on a solid performance like usual. However, they are obviously not invincible (*cough* lost to Wigan) and the only way that we can defeat them is if we go above and beyond what we have done so far into this season. Do you honestly think that there has been any performance this season that we should look back on and think that we should repeat it today?

I think that the answer is “no”, except the first CL qualifications against Panathinaikos. I just watched the highlight video of it and I felt ashamed when I realized that the video was the only good performance since last season. What I saw was a team that wanted to enter the Champions League, and put on a killer performance on the way there. It was reminiscent of last year’s Champions League performances. That’s what I want to see tomorrow.

The difference in quality is astounding, but the same trite statement holds true: “anything can happen in football”. We do indeed have a great squad, and we’re at home to boot. We can give any top team in Europe a match to remember so I don’t see how it’ll be any different tomorrow. The only thing to worry about is the paper-thin defense, but otherwise, we have the tools to go ahead and get our first win of the group. There’s no purpose to think about where Atletico will end up after the group stages are over, because the only thing that’s important is thinking about winning tomorrow. The team needs faith, and we will give it to them.

When you think about it, a victory over Chelsea would be considered an “upset”. That’s just a sign of how deep of a hole Atletico has dug itself into.

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PORTEROS
1 Asenjo.
43 De Gea.

DEFENSAS
2 Valera.
3 Antonio López.
16 Juanito.
17 Ujfalusi.
18 Álvaro Domínguez.
21 Perea.
22 Pablo Ibáñez.

CENTROCAMPISTAS
8 Raúl García.
9 Jurado.
11 Maxi Rodríguez.
12 Paulo Assunção.
19 Reyes.
20 Simão.
23 Cléber Santana.

DELANTEROS
7 Forlán.
10 Kun Agüero.
14 Sinama-Pongolle.

Once again, there is no purpose in a review. Pretty much, it was an unfortunate first result for Quique Sanchez and the team suffered once again from bad set piece defense, despite playing a good second half and hitting the crossbar on three separate occasions. It’s such a letdown considering that we’re hosting Chelsea in the midweek, then Real Madrid the following weekend. Quique may be thinking about what he got himself into, but the team will eventually get up and running and this is a bad string of fixtures to help that spark ignite. Most of you are familiar with how Atleti has been doing so far into the season, and this match is no different, so here’s the video and I’ll leave it at that. Better posts are definitely on their way.

The idiot commentator is the highlight of the video.

We suck we suck we suck

Let me tell you, I have seen us get outplayed before, but never this badly. Chelsea marked the shit out of each and every one of our players, and some of their flashy football was stuff that we see from the likes of Barca. Chelsea didn’t play “boring” as they are usually accused of doing; in comparison to us, they played football from another world while we were playing with a team from earth.

From the moment that Frank Lampard scored a free kick, later ruled for offside, I knew that there was going to be trouble. It didn’t take long for Salomon Kalou to get an easy chance on goal and miss it, but they were nowhere near being finished. What I remember about that play, I can’t forget. Ballack ( I think) received a pass and let the ball go through his lefs and it perfectly sliced a good ten feet in front of our defenders and onto the feet of Nicolas Anelka, who then passed to Kalou, still about 10 feet ahead of our defenders.

We definitely had our chances, such as a Kun Aguero one-on-one in the second half, and some good shots on goal from Forlan and Maxi Rodriguez, but the rest of the match can be remembered from Chelsea pretty much bullying our team and moving that ball up the pitch. You all probably read all those quotes about Chelsea working hard on the set pieces, and they managed to get two goals in from them. They were extremely prepared, and in great shape, while Abel Resino threw an Atletico squad onto the pitch while only crossing his fingers and hoping for the best. The difference was huge.

Granted, not many teams have a chance against Chelsea, especially at Stamford Bridge, but this match can be used not only as a wake-up call, but a wake-up call from effing hell. The club should use this match as a way to compare ourselves to an actual big gun. Everything from seeing how bad the defense was, to how ineffective the midfield was, and how clumsy the attack is. One of the main problems, obviously, is the motivation. The team isn’t properly motivated and Resino’s method of telling the team to simply “try harder and never give up” isn’t enough.

The next match day, we face Chelsea again, and at home. If things improve by then, in other words, Atletico are finally winning again, they’ll have a chance to win against Chelsea and finally earn their merits into getting second place. It’s not good to hope that other teams do bad, but I don’t care, I hope that APOEL beat Porto in the next match day and that we beat Chelsea. There’s still a chance to get into the next round. Regardless of where the team ends up next, whether it’s the knockout rounds or the UEFA Cup, points are absolutely vital. There is no way that Atletico will finish this group stage with three or less points. Last season we had 12! Are we really that much worse than last season?

Oh well. Supporters can’t do anything but stand behind the team, despite the temptation to bitch about how stupid some aspects of the club are. What really boggles my mind is how people can still have confidence in the coach. We’ve had one of the worst starts of the season since like, 1994, and our president is saying bullcrap like “there is absolutely no way that we are considering finding a new manager”. That’s not confidence, that’s just plain idiocy. How does this man even have a job anymore? Yeah, he’s Spanish and has Atletico in his blood, but he flat out sucks. Sorry to say, but I actually agree with the majority on this. Our president and directors board are idiots. Bad signings, bad decision to keep the coach, and pretty much bad everything.

This weekend, we face Mallorca, and if we don’t win, it’s the apocalypse.

It really does hurt to be an Atletico fan sometimes.

Look, I’m not one to insult the very club that I support, but yesterday I saw some pathetic team in black and red get scored on three times by some average team from Pamplona. Our defenders could have been blindfolded and still have played the same game. The midfield and attack stood very little of a chance and instead of watching an Argentine phenom leading the attack, you saw some short kid miss a bunch of chances. And he was still our best player on the pitch.

What says a lot is that the game was over within 30 minutes. In those thirty, Osasuna scored three very easy goals and there was very little chance for a comeback. The chances to score were definitely there. Don’t get me wrong, Osasuna is a good team, but they aint that good. I totally forgot that we were supposed to have a Champions League caliber team after this match was over.

Watch that first goal, and realize that the guy that got completely schooled (Ujfalusi) is our best defender. The only thing that says about our team is “defensa de papel” as they say in Spanish. The second two goals could have been easily prevented with better marking. I’m seriously lamenting the purchase of solid defenders over the transfer period. Juanito simply has very little left in him, Pablo has always sucked, Perea is average in the center (worse on the flank) and Ujfalusi is mediocre on the right. Bring on Lucas Neill, and a new central defender. There are probably better players in the youth team (Dominguez) and I’m not even kidding.

We obviously suffered from a lack of Diego Forlan, who had arrived late in Madrid and was left off the squad to “rest”. Instead we had Aguero up front and Jurado as second striker. Even without Forlan, our attack was plenty dangerous (Simao, Jurado, Aguero, Maxi Rodriguez) and they still couldn’t break through the Osasuna defense. Sinama-Pongolle, a striker, was once again put in a midfield role later in the match and did very little. I don’t get our coach sometimes.

What makes me most scared is Wednesday. We visit Chelsea FC in the Champions League. The same Chelsea who doesn’t lose at home and is managed by a Champions League genius, Carlo Ancelotti. How badly are we going to get destroyed? If we can’t put up a fight against freaking Osasuna, how do we do so against Chelsea? Logic better be damned or else it’s natural to say that we’re going to lose.

What’s also infuriating is the fact that the club doesn’t want to consider letting go of Abel Resino. Hate to say, but his philosophies and tactics of last year simply don’t work. Football is a sport that is ever changing, and this team simply can’t keep up. I’d go for an interim coach right about now. Why not let the B team coach handle it? Once again, the stupid board members are being boneheads once again.

Once again, let’s move on. Oh well.

Now all that’s needed is to win about 20 more times to match last season’s record. For these guys, one victory is difficult enough!

Atlético Madrid 2 – Real Zaragoza 1

Jose Jurado has been one of the team’s most surprising players so far into the season, which isn’t saying much because of how lackluster everyone else has been. He scored his second goal of the season in the 2nd minute, after collecting a ball and blasting it from the corner of the box. It’s also surprising that he beat Maxi out of the right midfield position. I expect to see more great things from him.

The second goal was a really easy free kick converted by Antonio Lopez, who didn’t even need to bend the ball, just blast it straight into the bottom left corner. Stupid Zaragoza wall should have known better, but too bad for them. Their only consolation was a penalty that was converted by Ewerthon.

We can keep on breathing. Thanks to the erratic beginning of the season, we’re only in 14th place (hah, only?) and 6 points from 4th. Reaching the top spots is obviously, our goal for the season, and to do well in cup competitions as well. Our squad is plenty capable of winning many matches, but the problem is definitely the finishing. Being in control of the match is useless if we can’t capitalize on chances. Forlan and Aguero should be smacking themselves right now.

The next game is away to Osasuna, and the match is definitely winnable. However, that won’t be until next next weekend because of international break. Until then, enjoy the break and let’s hope the boys are ready to step it up, and that they used this match as a turning point.

Also, just so you all know who is boss: