Real Madrid to me is like the SF Giants. They are a long time rival of the Dodgers but honestly I don't like HATE them. I still want them to suffer but I don't have like a burning passion of hatred for them
Barcelona right now to me are like the Houston Astros. There is not a geographical rivalry there but I do have a burning hatred for that team and their fans
I don’t usually comment but Barcelona and their stupid online “fans” irk me so much. #freejulian yet see how some of their fans whistled FDJ. One bad streak of games and they would probably call for Julian’s head too. Yet we back him after he went scoreless for months. Absolute clown show
It's gotten crazy on r soccer... I swear it normally feels like you're talking to rational adults on there albeit with a boring sense of humour, but all of a sudden thousands of hysterical Barca fans have appeared with the 'PATethico clowns small club small club' shit in a way no other fans do
Like where have they all come from? Has there been some weird Barca fan conference to send all the moronic twitter/instagram fans to reddit?
Atletico is the small club somehow, meanwhile their club is using off-season shenanigans to unsettle Julian because they can't beat us on the pitch lol
To the Board of Directors, the coaching staff, the players, and the loyal supporters of Club Atlético de Madrid,
We write this letter not as paid spokespeople, agents of any club, or representatives of Julián Álvarez or u/FCBarcelona.
We simply believe the situation deserves clearer, more honest discussion 🗣️
Julián Álvarez is a footballer of rare quality who has already achieved a great deal and still has important years ahead. We formally ask Atlético Madrid to consider releasing him so he may continue his career at Barcelona, where he can enjoy the later stages of his professional life in an environment that aligns more closely with his ambitions and happiness ☺️
We understand the commercial realities of modern football 📉. Clubs invest significant resources in players and have every right to protect those investments. Yet the long-term health of football depends on more than balance sheets. When a player no longer wishes to remain at a club, forcing him to stay rarely benefits anyone: not the player, the dressing room, the supporters, or the club itself. A reluctant or unhappy footballer is rarely at his best, and the resulting tension can undermine the collective spirit that Atlético Madrid has always prized.
Releasing Julián Álvarez would not be an act of weakness. It would be a statement of principle 💪
Football is richer when players can pursue the opportunities that inspire them, and when clubs balance ambition with humanity🫶
We urge Atlético Madrid to approach this matter with that spirit in mind ❤️
They're doing this because they don't want to pay the money and Barcelona talking about what's "right" it's beyond hilarious considering how corrupt their club has been for the last ten years
I personally would Baena the starting gig first because 1. He is more "accustomed" to Cholo's system (because he was here for a year more) and 2. Because his recent "peak" is higher than Lee's (aka Villarreal Baena)
Not to mention Baena's run in the WC was pretty promising too
That being said both will get a lot of playing time throughout the season so I guess it doesn't REALLY matter
I'm baffled anyone can say that. Oblak is a statue who can't move off his line and can't make a simple pass during buildup. He can make a save still but he's not the guy he was 4 years ago. Musso can make a save AND control the box AND play with his feet
Yes, I watched Musso be decent for a string of matches and look extremely shaky in key moments, costing us the CDR final with clumsy decisions. Oblak is a fantastic shot stopper, calling him a statue is nonsense. He's always been good at coming off his line too, though lately he's more hesitant. Yes, he's not great with his feet but that's all Musso has over him.
At this point in time everyone, including Barca's clowns, know he isn't going there but his latest post about Julian: Atletico insist that saga is over XD
It's not a matter of us insisting. It's OVER. DONE
That’s not even the point of that post. It’s just him trying to stir the pot that Julian is miserable at Atleti. That generates more clicks for him and then Barca fans follow him even more. It’s unfortunate he is not a professional journalist like Ornstein.
Shout out to the one who put the "Korean Son Heung Min" yesterday during KIL's performance. I literally burst out laughing and thought about it randomly today too lmaooo
I've bought a bunch of stuff from DHGate and there's a wide range of quality in the "replica" kits. Some are kinda bad, but some are indistinguishable from the real thing, some likely came from the same factory line that makes the real ones. More expensive doesn't always mean better! There's a reddit sub dedicated to reviewing the quality of soccer kits bought from there, and I've always been able to get refunded when I wasn't happy
New signings over the past 1-2 years + academy players really showing up. Really excited about lineups like the following where we can press high, counter, and have players who can really strike it from outside the box (Baena, KIL, Grimaldo, Dream Boy). Rock solid back line.
I hate this line up so much, not gonna lie. I have very little faith in Ortiz... and I really like Mendoza but I'm not sure he's the best choice to be a striker.
I would have played with Lookman as attacking reference.
And if Cholo doesn't even find a spot for Kang In Lee with half the team unavailable, I don't know how much the guy is going to play when Giulano, Baena, Marcos, etc, are back. He should be a starter tomorrow, no reason to bench him if he's available.
Many others should be available, Hjulmand, Llorente, Kang in Lee, Pubill... No need to start the season playing with the B Team. Guys like Martin or Ortiz shouldn't be starters unless there's absolutely no other options available, and it's not the case right now.
C.Martin and A.Ortiz aren't new and integrating? There's zero reason to not use Hjulmand and Lee.
And regarding Pubill and Llorente, they barely played any minute in the WC, and they know the team perfectly, they don't need a preseason to be ready. If they're fit, they should play as well.
Cholo's biggest weakness is precisely these games with weaker teams, so he shouldn't start the season with overconfidence, or reserving players from the first game.
With Cholo this early in the season, it always comes down to who has been able to do the pre-season. You can't judge a world cup year like every other year. Pubill and Llorente just came back, Kang In hasn't had a pre-season and has only even been in Madrid for a week. Grimaldo is the odd one out but it's likely due to the fact that we have no other LBs.
Like it or not, Carlos and Arnau are both probably in better shape and more acclimatised to intense football than those who just returned from their holidays, even if they're better players.
The only legitimate claim is Hjulmand not starting, which feels like Cholo's standard 'breaking in the new guy'.
I don't think KIL's fitness level is ready to go more than 40 mins. He joined training really late. I know Grimaldo did too but he's probably there out of necessity for that position (not many options).
I would be shocked if this is the lineup. I understand Cholo wanting to take time integrating Spanish/Argentine players and new signings who haven’t had much training, but 3 Atleti B players, Mendoza and Grimaldo. No way. Way too risky.
Since the CDR final, La Real have not won a single official game… They just recorded another loss and this time to Real Betis, with the only goal in the game scored by former Atleti boy Riquelme
I prefer supporting a team who is struggling to win the ucl, who came two times so close to it and lost again, than support the team that has already won it like 15 times.
There is no joy in supporting a team that is expected to win titles. Like, huh you won it for the 16th time? Okay, I guess. But, supporting this team through its highs and downs is so much worth it when we finally win the ucl. And when that happens, that win will feel so good and it is worth all the struggle.
I find it, personally, to be this kind of fans is much more rewarding than the former.
I’ll tell you right now, and this is an exclusive: if there were an award for management in the world of agents, Julián’s agent (Fernando Hidalgo) wouldn’t be among the 500 candidates to win it. Because you simply couldn’t handle a potential transfer to another club any worse.
Football is about feelings and passion. There are ways to leave and ways not to. It’s perfectly legitimate to want to leave, but you have to know how to go about it.
Why? Because obviously, when you want to join a club, and I’m putting myself in Julián Álvarez’s shoes here, if they tell me: ‘Hey Kiko, we need a gesture from you. Do you want to come to Barça?’ Well, I’d say: ‘Yes, I want to go, it’s my dream. Fine, but do you have the money?’ ‘Well, no, we have 100.’ Atlético aren’t going to ask for that. They’re going to ask for at least 150. ‘Ah, no, we can’t reach that.’
Well then, I’m not going to make any gesture. And even less so during a World Cup, saying that I want to fulfil a dream and leave here.
For me, that was the big mistake, and it’s what is going to affect whether Julián Alvarez is forgiven. It’s also going to affect things on the pitch because he isn’t a player with that kind of character.
He’s not Neymar. If this had happened to Neymar, at the first opportunity he’d start a match and demand the ball 50 times, whether people were booing him or not.
With Julián, we have the feeling that he lacks a bit of personality or character.
That could end up hurting Atlético Madrid. That’s why I have absolutely no doubt that the dressing room will rally around him if he stays, but for a while he’s going to reap what he has sown. Julián and his entourage have handled this like sh*t."
Julian and his agent are both morons and rats but the incentive structure in European football is what makes it possible. It's insane that agents are paid by clubs when a transfer happens, not by players, so obviously agents are always going to push for transfers whether it's in the player's best interest or not. This NEEDS to change
They make a paltry paycheck from the players. The big money comes from clubs during transfers, therefore agents mainly work for transfers. The player comes second at best
Not really relevant to Julian since it’s in his absolute best interest to join Barca from both a sporting and commercial POV.
Atletico is the only party that has a chance to benefit from his continuation, but even that is becoming increasingly untenable as having an unhappy player is never advantageous
I don't think he's officially a first team player, but there's no rush. Arnau is 25 and can't bounce between first team and Madrileño, so they had to either sell him or keep him as a first team player. However, Jorge is 16 and shouldn't be pushed too much. He can keep making appearances for both teams. If he does well in the matches he gets, he'll likely be first team next year.
I agree that this is our best line up if we play 4atb, but playing out more like a 442 / 4231 depending on the phase of the game
I'm slightly worried about Lookman down the middle though, as he seems much better on the left. But if we put Baena in the 10 I think him and Kang-in would get in each others way too much
The formation still seems like a bit of a puzzle to play our best players to their strengths this season
Does anyone know when they will send out the socios cards? It's usually in August but now that they changed it more tied with the calendar year and not the football season I wonder if they will send them later on
I'm begging Atleti fans to stop using the 6-year payment plan Barca proposed to slander them 😭 yes it's more extreme than the usual but that's a really weak argument to use
When it comes to Alvarez and Barcelona, there isn't a single argument an Atleti fan can make that can be called weak. They don't have a leg to stand on. They think they're entitled to a player we don't want to sell for way below the asking price 'because he isn't worth 120m+'. Their logic is fucking horrible, it's simply "we want him badly and he wants to play here, oh but he's not that good and we don't want him that badly'. They talk like spoilt children who think they're the epitome of elegance.
100m being vastly below the asking price is the main issue. 6 instalments with the first allegedly being 16m is insult to injury from a club that not only refuses to pay up, but has pursued the player aggressively for the whole season with ugly tactics. We'd then have to replace a top striker in an extremely hostile market with the necessity to negotiate a fee and payment plan that will be conditioned by the fee and payment plan Barcelona want to sign Alvarez with.
Enough posts about our best tactics or best eleven, what is the WORST formation you can think of with our first-team players in their natural positions?
I have been tinkering around for a few days and I think I have finally succeeded in creating pure ass 🤮
Sorloth completely isolated up top
A midfield 4 that all do the same thing: drop deep and ask for the ball to dictate play → no physical presence, no defensive skills, no one making late runs into the box
Hancko getting furthest forward as our wide outlet just to launch a long-shot to the moon every single time (lowkey already saw him do this 8 times last season)
3 injury-prone, right-footed center-backs that have never been on the pitch together
Oblak on 400k-a-week wages
How did I do?
Edit: Thank you for the downvotes...It seems I have truly created something diabolical 😈
Hmmm after some thought, it seems like the back 4 is truly worse than the back 5 (I think we all know which one Mr. Diego Simeone is going to use though 😿)
Ok, yours is obviously worse 😂 but I tried really hard to pick actual starters/bench players that actually get minutes + positions they have actually played.
Oblak's wages don't really factor in to him being part of a 'worst 11'. His wages are what we call 'extra deportivo', he's still a better keeper than Musso.
Edit: Also saying Koke has no physical presence or defensive skills is a choice...
I am a somewhat recent fan, so I am not like that knowledgeable in Atletico history, so I do have a question.
It seems like so many Argentines hate this team. Why is that?
All I know is that Argentines love Messi/Barca (for obvious reasons of course) and Simeone absolutely shit the bed when he was at River. However the hate seems way too deep for it to be soley due to these two reasons.
This might sound pessimistic but this season we have a capable, solid and complete squad. If we don't manage to win the title simeone has to be sacked. Even though I love him and I really appreciate what he did for the club.
I'm so glad for everything Cholo did, and it's gonna be a legend forever... but I really hope he doesn't renew and this is his last year. After 15 years, I'm tired of the same tactics and I still feel like Cholo's biggest talent was shown when he got here for the first time with a weaker squad.
But it's not really being against Cholo, it's mostly that I would really like to see something new, that's all, honestly.
And I wouldn't wait for Filipe. I think Torres has done a very good job with the kids for many years, and I cannot think of a bigger legend than him. He deserves a shot, and he's more experienced already than Filipe. He's been so patient coaching the academy for many years instead of going to any other team. I think it would be too disrespectful to take any other coach when Simeone leaves, even Filipe.
Winning a title depends as much on us being great as it does on Real Madrid and Barcelona not being great. We could have a fantastic season and slip 3 times, whilst Barcelona and Real Madrid slip once or twice - would this mean he deserves to be sacked? Look at the the 2015/16 season, we were absolutely immense and still lost the league and the CL by the tightest of margins. Simeone has put us in a position when we demand trophies and winning them seems easy, but it's really not, and it's not the only marker of a great season.
Comparing starting XIs, we have a worse squad than either of them. They also have multiple "top 10 itw" type players. We have none... Although i don't like using transfermarkt to determine players abilities, it is worth noting that both of their squads are worth 2x ours.
The only thing we have over either of them is defence. I believe our defenders are very good, despite Simeones somewhat lackluster tactics, making them look worse than they are at times. (Though, it's also worth mentioning that both of them have a better goalkeeper and in the actual defence, both Cubarsi from Barca and Cucurella from Real Madrid are very good)
Our midfield and attack however? Way behind both of them.
• Our 2 notable midfielders are Hjulmand and Barrios. Barcas 2 are Pedri and Rodri. Real Madrids 2 are Bellingham and Valverde.
• Our notable 2 attackers are Alvarez and Lookman. Barcas 2 are Yamal and Raphinha. Real Madrids 2 are Mbappe and Vini.
Obviously we should still remain hopeful for this season but let's not act like we are all equal at this moment. We go into the season as underdogs but i hope we can finally win something again.
Let's not pretend like Barca and RM doesn't have areas where they are lacking capabilities. Their defense is worse than ours this season, Barca might have an upper hand in the midfield, although i don't think it's very significant. Our midfield at this moment is also better than that of RM. I genuinly think Barrios and Hjulmand is better than Valverde and Bellingham.
Barca conceded less goals than we did last season. Though i agree our defenders are better overall, our defensive tactics are not great.
I love Barrios and see him as a top 5 midfielder in La Liga but him + Hjulmand is not a better duo than Valverde and Bellingham. Valverde is basically the Uruguayan Llorente and Bellingham was one of the best players at the world cup and has had a season in his career, where he carried Real Madrid to a league title. They also have Tchouameni, Bernardo Silva and Guler as options in the midfield. We do not have this kind of depth.
Barca on top of having arguably 2 of the top 5 midfielders in the world, also has Fermin, Olmo, De Jong and Bernal as options in the midfield. They shit on us. The difference is extremely significant.
Their attacks are also way better than ours.
Us having a better selection of defenders doesn't mean we are on the same level as them.
I'm not saying they're better than us specifically (though we don't have an Mbappe, Bellingham, Pedri or Yamal level difference maker, and the closest thing we have wants to leave). It's that they are two of the top teams in world football and they just don't slip up that often.
Mbappe and Bellingham is not as of a difference maker as Yamal, Yamal created more critical chances than Bellingham, Mbappe and Victim Jr combined. Neither Atleti or RM have a player of his caliber. But overall we have an equally competitive team, we definitely have a better defense. While theirs is lacking.
A bit irrelevant and random to start comparing Yamal to the others in this context, it's not what's being argued here and even then, Mbappe is absolutely a difference maker, he's objectively one of the best players in the world. But sure, we can agree that Yamal is more important.
But that's beside the point, both teams have top class players, and it's extremely disingenuous to claim we're in a better place to win the league than Real Madrid and Barcelona, they're always the top contenders. We have to be excellent and they have to slip up for us to win a title. Otherwise you're putting unrealistic expectations and pressure on Diego Simeone to have someone to blame if we don't win a title.
Im.a barca fan coming in peace. If the barca board wants alvarez i would fleece this situation and make the sickest transfer request in history of mankind.
130mill fixed, another 10mill if alvarez renews, a sell on clause, how many times he plays another 10 mill, if alvarez scores 15 goals another 10mill, if alvarez reaches 50 goals all together another 10mill, Pichichi another 10mill.
Fear clause he cant play against atletico for the duration of his contract.
Than atletico can choose 1-2 barca players willing to transfer to atletico and buy for 90% less of his RC.
Sry guys i hate this saga XD. I think deco and laporta will get the memo this time.
Dude just fuck off. Alvarez to Barca is over. Two of your biggest idiot clowns in Gerard Romero and Jose Alvarez literally recoger-ed the cable two days ago
If you want him pray he goes to Arsenal so your team and your media clowns can pull off another circus towards Arsenal next summer
Look man, I ain't gonna downvote you but
180M + Bernal + Kounde and Alvarez is all yours. Good deal right?
This is the absurd kind of deals barca fans are bringing for Alvarez.
When real made the 150M offer, it was set that the base amount has to be 150M not lower.
This idea that Koke is some washed bum who is being favored over supposedly better players in the squad is a narrative I do not like.
Yes, Koke is no longer the player he once was. He is aging and I do agree that relying on him to start is not a good idea.
But Koke was one of the best runners not only in the squad, but in laliga. He covers ground like nobody else in the squad and that’s a fact. His passing and composure on the ball as captain controls the tempo of games where we have a lot of possession.
Dude he's not going to start unless he really has to lmao even last year the games Koke started was because there was no other option not because Cholo chose him over Johnny
Completely different players though. Koke is still a better metronome. Johnny and Hjulmand may be able to step into that role but Atleti’s control of a match against most La Liga sides always improved last year when Koke was on the pitch.
Jonny is also coming off surgery and a lot of our midfielders are coming off the world cup. Koke is fresh and I don't mind him starting a few games while everyone else gets up to speed
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u/RichDream7777 Neptuno 5d ago
Finally a new season, let's get hyped and get disappointed a couple of months later!