Atlético De Madrid - Breaking The Pattern

[ChristopherWH]

I will take control of Atlético de Madrid, one of the most succesful teams in La Liga even though they haven't won the league since 1996.
Their latest wins include Europa Leagues win in 2010 & 2012.
In a Spain suffering from financial crisis, and the football doing the same, I'll try to get a more balanced economy at the same time as I'll go for challenging the super-duo Real Madrid & Barcelona, challengers Sevilla & Valencia, as well as any other underdogs that might put up a surprise effort, for the top division win.

---

Key Players


Radamel Falcao
A world class striker and a killer in the box.
With great composure, excellent finishing and magnificent headers we will all rely on him to score when no one else can.
Last season he scored 24 goals in 34 league appearances.



Arda Turan
Another player who has only played one season for the club.
Turan is a technically giftet offensive midfielder, who can also play on both wings and up front if the injury list gets too long.
With good creativity and flair, he is also level headed enough to make the right decisions in difficult situations.



Diego Godín
He might not be the fastest nor the strongest, but he's a little bit of both. A good central defender whos good work rate, sacrificial playing style and bravery when fighting for the ball makes him an example to follow on the pitch. Came from Villarreal for the 2010-2011 season and immedietly took a place.



Thibaut Courtois
A young goalkeeper who is only with us on loan, from Premiere League giants Chelsea.
Was at the club last season as well and did well enough to warrent another season on loan, hopefully we can come to an agreement with Chelsea for a more permanent solution.
If he can stay injury-free most people in football can probably see him having a terrific future ahead of him.

---

​

 

[Max Aveiro]

Atlético de Madrid has a good squad, but is great challenge surpass Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Good luck!

 

[ChristopherWH]

​

Pre-Season



A decent pre season with our best game being our first against Eredivisie's ADO Den Haag where we completely obliterated them. Their defensive display was nothing short of a disgrace. The same could be said about us in the game against Estudiantes, which actually was a pretty even game even if the goal protocol does not show it. They were very effective in front of goal while we weren't.
A nice surprise was the fact that Diego Godín managed to score the most goals in these games, tied with Diego Costa, who both got 4 each. Very nice indeed.

---

Transfers



As you can see we did not sign any more players this summer, there simply was no room for it in our budget after I had fired most of the coaching staff left by Simone and hired my own, some of whose previous employers demanded compensation.
These were all players who wouldn't have gotten much time in the first team this season so I figured they could grow more playing first team football somewhere else. All were loaned out to other Spanish teams lower in the league system.

---

Next update will be of my first three competative games at At. Madrid.
Getting a tough first game away against Valencia, to be followed by taking Betis as our guests before playing against Chelsea for the Euro Super Cup. Hopefully I can get my first title this early on.
Wish us luck!​

 

[ChristopherWH]

The Beginnings

Now it was time for my first real test, the league was starting and we were travelling to Valencia to play against Valencia at the Mestalla. A tough challenge for anyone. They have finished 3rd in the league for three consecutive years and last won in 2004.

---

We played really well today, actually had most of the ball and the chances all throughout the game, although we didn't manage to capitalize on that as much as I would've liked. Beforehand I would've been glad to get one point from the Mestalla, but after I've seen how the game played out, I think we could've managed a win if we were just a bit more focused in front of goal.
An early injury on Filipe will have him not playing for about 4 weeks which is a blow as he is one of our better defenders.
Glad to see Cristian Rodríguez score in his debut as well, good for him to get a nice start.

---

When Adrían got sent off it made me see how we were a bit lacking up front, therefore I decided to use the last of our money to bring in PSG's Kevin Grameiro on a loan until the end of the season.
Some much needed back-up. He can play as a central striker but is also competent enough to be placed on either of the wing positions if need be.

---

A tough draw to take, we looked good to win for a good 87 minutes before Beñat decided to change that.
Some defensive mess-ups gave him a clear shot at goal that he would'nt miss in a hundred years.
Over all a good game though, we had many chances to settle this earlier but once again our focus in front of goal needs some working on. Just as in the last game we got another players sent off as well, need to take it a bit more easy or we wont be able to field a good enough team with everyone being suspended.
Rodríguez was our scorer once again with Falcao still missing his chances.

---

We were better up front today, and worse at the back.
Some splendid attacking and terrible defending saw us getting a 4-4 draw against Chelsea after extra time.
Falcao got his scoring up and running with a hat-trick while Frank Lampard showed his experience by bringing his team back from two goals behind twice.
A few too many mistakes from Courtois as well, perhaps he still has hopes to play for Chelsea some day, and wanted them to win? No I shouldn't say that but I've seen him do much better than he did this evening.
I feel a bit bad for not getting the supporters a trophy to be proud of, but I think we can leave this behind us now and focus on some competitions I know they consider more important.

---

Falcao was our player of the month this time around, mostly due to average performances all our and his hat-trick against Chelsea being the only stand out thing so far. Hopefully he can keep scoring goals now, and start producing in the league to get us some wins.
Even though we haven't won yet, I'm glad that we haven't lost in the league either.


​