Chapter 857: 3 Consecutive Victories
Simeone has changed!
The heart has changed, and it has become very determined!
Yang Huan had heard many people talk about this before. He even watched several Atletico Madrid games in person during the International Champions Cup, but it was not obvious that it was a warm-up match at that time.
Now, at the Bernabeu, this crucial Madrid derby is the first Atletico Madrid game that Yang Huan has seen in the new season, and his feeling is that Simeone has indeed changed a lot.
The first is formation.
In the past two seasons, Atletico Madrid's front trident has really made all the teams in La Liga suffer.
Moreover, relying on this set of high-pressing tactical system from the front trident, to the midfield, to the defense, Atletico Madrid has also achieved shockingly brilliant results.
A La Liga champion, last season was the La Liga runner-up and the Champions League runner-up, with outstanding results.
But who is Simeone?
In Yang Huan's impression, he is an ambitious man who is always full of hunger and thirst. He has been like this since his professional player career, and now, he has transformed into a head coach. His personality has not changed. .
Therefore, he will not be satisfied with the success of the past two seasons, and stop the pace of his pursuit.
Especially after personally experiencing the Champions League final last season and seeing Bielsa's Southampton, the stimulation to Simeone was too great.
As early as after the Champions League final, Simeone vowed that he must regain the lost glory.
Perhaps it is due to the consideration of the players' participation in the World Cup, or the high-intensity oppression and pressing, which cannot be sustained for a long time. Therefore, Simeone performed more rotations at the beginning of the season.
The team's tactics have also changed from the original four-three-three to a more balanced four-four-two.
Or, strictly speaking, it cannot be regarded as 442, but 4411.
The goalkeeper is Courtois, and the defense line from left to right is Jose Gaya, Godin, Otamendi and Montoya.
From the perspective of the game process, the positions of the four players in the midfield are not lined up, but are different.
In the middle of the midfield, there are two midfielders who are biased towards defense.
So far this season, it has been a combination of Illia Ramendi and Krichowiak. These two players have both offense and defense, one for organizational control and one for protection and support, complementing each other.
There are two wide players, Isco on the left and Koke on the right, but these two players are positioned more forward and more inward. They are always in the ribs between the opponent's defense line and the center Take the ball in the area.
Especially Isco, he is quite eye-catching in this position.
The two players in the frontcourt are basically chosen among the three players of Diego Costa, Carlos Tevez and Griezmann, with Vietto, Munir and Torres acting as substitutes.
And this game, although it was a Madrid derby, considering that Tevez traveled a long distance to fly back to South America to participate in the national team game, Simeone chose Diego Costa and Griezmann to start.
If the changes in formation and lineup do not explain any problems, then Atletico Madrid's change in style is surprising.
When Mandzukic was in the team before, Atletico Madrid's style of play was more inclined to cross from the side.
Later, after adopting the trident combination of Diego Costa, Tevez and Griezmann, although there were fewer side crosses, the style of play was still simple and direct, even a bit rough.
But now, Simeone has begun to abandon some old ideas, focusing on strengthening the number and tacit understanding of players' passing and receiving cooperation.
In particular, when the team is attacking, Atletico Madrid is now relying most on the two full-backs, Isco and Koke, as well as the forward players, at the front of the penalty area, especially in the top area of the arc. There are even some delicate and exquisite transmission coordination, which is eye-catching.
This was hard to see before!
Moreover, he also gave players like Isco, Koke and Griezmann more autonomy.
Just like Isco, this Spanish player's performance this season has been better than one game. The important point is that he has completely stimulated his vitality in Simeone's tactical system.
He is still as diligent as before, actively participating in counter-attacks and defenses, but once the ball reaches his feet, he has the ability to surprise everyone and continue to create surprises on the court.
This is also the freedom Simeone gave him.
Just like this Madrid derby, after the opening, Atletico Madrid actively exerted pressure on Real Madrid.
In the eighth minute, Isco received a pass from Iliaramendi on the left side of the frontcourt.
Behind him is Arbeloa, who replaced Carvajal who was injured in the national team game. The latter got close to him immediately after receiving the ball from Isco, and Vidal also forced him over immediately.
But I saw that after Isco received the ball, he was under the attack of the two players, dodging around, using magical footwork, he insisted on bringing the ball out of the double-teaming of the two players, and even threw it away. Vidal, cut inside to the middle.
This series of wonderful footwork immediately made Isco win the audience's amazement.
But in the end, Isco made a through ball at the front of the penalty area, and Diego Costa was destroyed by Ramos before he could hold it firmly, wasting a very good offensive opportunity.
But before the fans at the Bernabéu gave the applause for Ramos' wonderful defense, Atletico Madrid's offensive came up again.
Cork took the ball from the right and cut inside, and after attracting the attention of the defender, he moved to the left side of the penalty area.
Isco stopped the ball, waded into the penalty area, and faced Arbeloa, with a realistic fake move, he easily swayed away from Arbeloa, and suddenly kicked.
The ball was like a cannonball that came out of the tank, and it precisely got into the goal guarded by Casillas, one to zero!
This goal came very suddenly, but it is not surprising.
Because from the beginning to the present, Atletico Madrid has created a considerable threat to Real Madrid.
After seeing Isco's goal, Yang Huan was so excited to celebrate, and he also smiled and applauded.
It can be seen that Simeone is incorporating more elements into Atletico Madrid based on the past two seasons.
And also achieved initial success.
If the first goal is not obvious, then the second goal is more convincing.
After Isco took the ball from the left and cut inside, he passed it to Diego Costa who was pulled to the front of the penalty area.
As soon as Diego Costa took the ball, he leaned on Pepe with his body, and then distributed the ball to the right.
Cork quickly plugged in from behind, and after throwing off Coentraang, he made a bottom pass and the ball fell to the back point.
Griezmann quickly jumped in from behind, ahead of Ramos, a dive to the top, and the ball directly into Casillas' goal again in the small penalty area, 2-0!
Two consecutive goals, half an hour's time, Atletico Madrid's performance is impressive.
On the other hand, Real Madrid has never been able to find an effective solution on the offensive end, and when the score fell behind, the team played in a hurry.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale even competed to shoot long shots outside the penalty area when the offense was unable to open up the situation. It is difficult to threaten Atletico Madrid's goal.
Sitting in the stands, Yang Huan couldn't stop shaking his head when he saw Real Madrid's attack was chaotic.
After all, there is only one Modric behind, and he cannot command the midfield at all.
Vidal is a strong player, but it is difficult for him to give Modric much help in controlling the midfield.
James Rodriguez does have this ability, but he is a newcomer and has no prestige in the Real Madrid team. The stars don't listen to him, so he can't do anything.
Even Yang Huan was thinking that Simeone probably consciously wanted to let go of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, and let them relax their defense on the outside of the penalty area, especially in the area diagonally to the goal from a long distance .
The reason is also very simple, that is, let them shoot freely.
In the first half hour, Yang Huan saw at least five long-range shooting opportunities wasted by these two guys, and they all turned into anti-aircraft guns.
Look at Ancelotti again, the fat Italian is still very calm.
But Yang Huan can guarantee that at this time, he must have mixed feelings in his heart, racking his brains to find a solution.
As for Simeone, he was even more calm.
Anyway, with two goals in hand, he also signaled to the team not to worry, and not to continue to press so high.
Even Yang Huan was thinking, this guy must play a dirty counterattack in the second half.
Sure enough, the first half ended with a score of 2-0, and in the second half, Atletico Madrid really played a dirty defensive counterattack, began to shrink the defense, and let Real Madrid take the initiative to attack.
Real Madrid didn't make any moves either. At their own home court, they were two goals behind their rivals in the same city.
Therefore, the home team attacked, and the visiting team defended the goal, patiently waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.
The two sides came and went, and the fight was very intense.
Until the 73rd minute of the second half, Atletico Madrid got another chance.
Isco took the ball from the left and, after attracting the attention of the defender, passed it to Jose Gaya who advanced in the back.
Jose Gaya dribbled the ball and was about to enter the penalty area, but was killed by Arbeloa from the side. With a bumping action, Jose Gaya fell to the ground and rolled twice.
The referee undisputedly awarded a penalty and gave Arbeloa a yellow card.
Diego Costa made the penalty himself, 3-0.
At this point in the game, it has basically entered garbage time.
After conceding the third goal, Ancelotti brought on loan Hernandez from Manchester United to further strengthen the team's attack.
And in the 86th minute, it was the Mexican striker who grabbed a point in front of the goal and scored a goal for Real Madrid, but in the end he was unable to prevent Real Madrid from losing 1-3 at home.
Yang Huan was really excited when the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
Originally, in his plan, Atletico Madrid had more adjustments this season.
After all, in one summer, so many players were lost and so much fresh blood was added, Simeone should really run the team well, and then achieve results after a season or two.
But now it seems that Simeone does not need a running-in period at all, relying on this lineup, the league started with three consecutive victories.
Although in the La Liga standings, it is still behind Barcelona, which has the same three-game winning streak, but has scored more goals, but Yang Huan is still quite satisfied with Atletico Madrid's performance, especially the changes shown by Simeone.
From the beginning to the end, both Yang Huan and Bielsa insisted that the transformation of Atletico Madrid is more promising.
Today, Simeone's transformation is undoubtedly confirming this view.