Historic: Atlético Madrid more valuable than Real Madrid

[SirBalon]

It's no secret that Atlético Madrid have advanced in major strides over the past 7 to 8 years... From a club in major financial trouble to a club now playing amongst the giants.

Things have changed definitively, Atlético Madrid now eats at the same table as the elite European football clubs.  The club which is coached by Diego "El Cholo" Simeone now has their most expensive squad in their history and the famous discourse that Simeone has utilised in recent years in the shape of; "We've got to compare ourselves with clubs like Sevilla and Valencia" is now officially history.  Not only the value of Atleti's squad but the value of the club in general has become so big that it has for the first time superseded their city rivals in the shape of none other than the all powerful Real Madrid CF.. Atlético Madrid who last season won the Europa League while FC Barcelona won the double in the shape of La Liga and the Copa del Rey and with Real Madrid ending victorious in the Champions League managed to generate more profits than their city rivals and ended a close second to the most profitable club in Europe last season, FC Barcelona.

Atlético Madrid's competitive numbers on the field in recent years are undeniable with winning La Liga, 2 Champions League Finals, Europa League victories have all attracted more media status and top players.  We only have to go back a number of weeks where Antoine Griezmann decided to choose continuing his football career at the height of his most value due to age over going to Barça... Add to this Atleti offering Griezmann a contract and salary that only the biggest clubs in Europe can afford. There is no doubt that times have changed and that a lot of this has to be attributed to their coach Diego Simeone and his conservative approach in calculating that the only way in his early reign to bring balance to the table was to think results first.

Beníto Pérez a professor of journalism and finance that works for Deloitte and MARCA said in a newspaper article only the other day that this is the proof that clubs with a relatively decent enough status can rise from the ashes even in today's football and compete with the giants.  He added amongst various other financial arguments that a club obviously has to accompany a business astuteness with victories in the field of play as the market is volatile and white smoke can end up eating you alive if you don't show ambition and stretch yourself.  It's like in any field of success that you have to take risks so as to accumulate in the end. Atlético Madrid managed this while also buying the land to also build a new super stadium.

[True Blue]

Such a well managed club, from the board to the pitch. 

[Cicero]

Still cunts

[RandoEFC+]

Wait, you mean a club with a lower budget than their main rivals are actually using smart expertise and competence to grow and succeed?

And they don't change manager every 2-3 years?

And they make signings based on footballing reasons instead of commercial side effects and perception?

Can't be true, sorry!

In seriousness, we as neutral football fans should hail the success of Atletico Madrid. Three of the other top five leagues have been strangled in footballing terms by the financial clout of PSG, Juventus, Bayern. We perceive it as impossible for these teams to be overturned, but is it really?

Dortmund showed in relatively recent memory that you could see off Bayern by getting your shit together, getting the players and the club pulling in one direction and just basically being pretty competent.

Monaco did the same thing to PSG just last season and some would argue that Napoli should have won Serie A just this year. 

In the Premier League, we have such a fixed mindset. The top six are the top six. Nobody can get into the top six because they don't have the budget. All the other clubs should be happy with a top half finish or avoiding relegation. Err fuck off, Leicester won the Premier League 5 minutes ago, and yes it was a freak season where none of the big boys were at their best but even if some of them had been on the ball Leicester would have been in the top four which would have still been a massive overachievement just by basically doing things right for one season.

Money is useful but it can also complicate things and even make things toxic. It is a big influence in success but we see countless examples even in these times of clubs finding a way around it to succeed with talent and competence instead. Perhaps we should all learn to be a bit more optimistic about what a well run club can achieve and stop thinking that money determines everything.

I will use my own club as an example, as I am often guilty of. Last season we spent a ton of money with no plan, no competence on show. We had our worst season that I can remember. This summer we make two big money signings but get a lot smarter stuff done like reducing the wage budget etc, I bet anything that we will be a much happier fan base in June 2019 and it's pretty much all because we've overhauled the personnel, better expertise, less money.

[Eco]

14 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Wait, you mean a club with a lower budget than their main rivals are actually using smart expertise and competence to grow and succeed?

And they don't change manager every 2-3 years?

And they make signings based on footballing reasons instead of commercial side effects and perception?

Can't be true, sorry!

In seriousness, we as neutral football fans should hail the success of Atletico Madrid. Three of the other top five leagues have been strangled in footballing terms by the financial clout of PSG, Juventus, Bayern. We perceive it as impossible for these teams to be overturned, but is it really?

Dortmund showed in relatively recent memory that you could see off Bayern by getting your shit together, getting the players and the club pulling in one direction and just basically being pretty competent.

Monaco did the same thing to PSG just last season and some would argue that Napoli should have won Serie A just this year. 

In the Premier League, we have such a fixed mindset. The top six are the top six. Nobody can get into the top six because they don't have the budget. All the other clubs should be happy with a top half finish or avoiding relegation. Err fuck off, Leicester won the Premier League 5 minutes ago, and yes it was a freak season where none of the big boys were at their best but even if some of them had been on the ball Leicester would have been in the top four which would have still been a massive overachievement just by basically doing things right for one season.

 Money is useful but it can also complicate things and even make things toxic. It is a big influence in success but we see countless examples even in these times of clubs finding a way around it to succeed with talent and competence instead. Perhaps we should all learn to be a bit more optimistic about what a well run club can achieve and stop thinking that money determines everything.

I will use my own club as an example, as I am often guilty of. Last season we spent a ton of money with no plan, no competence on show. We had our worst season that I can remember. This summer we make two big money signings but get a lot smarter stuff done like reducing the wage budget etc, I bet anything that we will be a much happier fan base in June 2019 and it's pretty much all because we've overhauled the personnel, better expertise, less money.

Beautiful post. 

[Cicero]

22 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Still cunts

 

1 minute ago, Eco said:

Beautiful post. 

Cheers mate 

[SirBalon]

Today’s result makes this all that much more meaningful. 

[Spike]

I remember when signing players like Diego Cunha on loan was considred a coup.

[Spike]

@SirBalon

It kinds reminds me of Arsenal (Wenger), Derby (Clough), Forrest (Clough!), Man United (red nose), etc. Very rarely does a manager come along that fits so well and creates a 'personality cult' amongst the club, rejuvenating everything. You have to imagine Cholo is involved in everything at the club, reflecting his player personality, I'd have to assume he is a busy body-workaholic. He has all the positives of Mourinho but none (or at least very little) of the negative. 

[SirBalon]

6 hours ago, Spike said:

@SirBalon

It kinds reminds me of Arsenal (Wenger), Derby (Clough), Forrest (Clough!), Man United (red nose), etc. Very rarely does a manager come along that fits so well and creates a 'personality cult' amongst the club, rejuvenating everything. You have to imagine Cholo is involved in everything at the club, reflecting his player personality, I'd have to assume he is a busy body-workaholic. He has all the positives of Mourinho but none (or at least very little) of the negative. 

I think most people accept that Diego Simeone has more power than your average coach in Spain.  He's still a coach there mind you and not a manager because I know of things where he's wanted one way and the club have gone on the opposite route.  But what's for sure is that the club listens to him long and hard...

The story revolving Antoine Griezmann and his possible move to Barcelona was a long one and very public.  There is an anecdote where after winning the Europa League Simeone gets one of his players to find out if he's changed his mind and that he will be staying...  The information he gets back is better than usual but still containing the negative outcome in his view,. So when in the final La Liga game of the season at the Metropolitano Atleti draw 2-2 with Eibar, chants start to emerge in one hardcore sector of the stadium, but those chants suddenly spread like wildfire in a matter of 60 seconds which turned into loud acute whistling... It was aimed at Antoine Griezmann who was applauding the fans in thanks for their commitment all season. The camera focuses also on Diego Simeone (the bench in general) and El Cholo is wide eyed and following everything transfixed and in deep thought!  He shakes his head and he himself goes into the middle of the pitch with the rest of his bench team and joins in with the rest of the players in thanking the fans.  Because the fans see Simeone join in, the jeering aimed at Griezmann dies down to just the hardcore section but is being drowned out by 90% of the fans that are idolising their team and obviously their coach.

Anyway... They all go into the changing room and then go home... But where has El Cholo been?  He didn't go back into the changing room with everyone else which is odd coming from him.  Infact nobody sees where Diego Simeone went and they don't see him at all and everyone goes home.

So where did Diego Siemone go?

Well in the tunnel going back to the dressing room, Simeone falls back slowly and takes a route to somewhere else... To the offices via the emergency stairs where he knows he won't be seen.  He gallops and finds what he was searching for which is Miguel Ángel Gil Marín the CEO (Simeone doesn't go for Cerezo who is the president because he has a plan)... Gil Marín is collecting his jacket from his office to go back to the end of season gathering in the presidential lounge.  Simeone stops him and says get your mobile phone and call Godín, tell him to come straight up here!

Gil Marín saw in El Cholo's eyes that this was no joke and without further questions does as he says but tells Simeone that he needs to get back to the lounge because there are important people to see to regarding the future of Atleti.  

Diego Godín arrives and then Simeone tells them that in two hours Griezmann will be entertaining his family at their home and that he isn't going out for dinner that evening.  Godín and Gil Marín look at one another thinking that the coach has finally lost his marbles!  It was going to happen one day because everyone knows Simeone isn't 100% kosher up there... I mean, Simeone wakes his players up with phone calls the night before a match reminding them of who they'll be playing and it's not the first time that in the middle of the night he'll arrive at a player's house and get him up for early breakfast (Arda Turan victim of this many times apparently). 

Simeone says he'll explain in the car when they go and everyone departs to do their thing.  Gil Marín later that evening picks up Godín at his house and then both go to Simeone's house but the coach is already waiting outside the house sitting on the curb.  They go quickly to Antoine Griezmann's house where Simeone himself rings on the doorbell.  When Griezmann opens the door (he was entertaining his family at home and his sister is his agent with his father having massive influence in his son's decisions) he is dumbstruck and Simeone says this:

"Sorry kid, we nearly didn't make it but didn't want to be rude and not keep our promise of dinner tonight"

Griezmann looks confused and scratches his head, Godín and Gil Marín behind Simeone embarrassed looking at each other feeling that being buried at this moment wouldn't be the worst of ideas.  Griezmann obviously invites them in anyway and the rest is history!

That evening they convince the young Frencman that his future lies at the club, that he's a hero there, that the fans were just reacting to all the newspaper and media rumours that he already had a verbal agreement with Barcelona and that as far as the fans were concerned that would be the last time they saw Antoine in an Atlético Madrid kit and they wanted to let him know how they felt, it's a fan's right to express their feelings! At the end of the day, they have very little power other than that at a PLC football club.  The player had been very hurt by the reaction of the fans and he had turned his opinion to wanting to definitely leave.

So there we have it... Diego Pablo Simeone is a very special character.  He consistently tells the fans that their greatest hero is Luis Aragonés and that he himself is only continuing his legacy, this he has repeated many times.  To the fans Simeone is their everything and to Simeone Atlético Madrid are genuinely an extended part of his family, genuinely!

[Guest]

On 15/08/2018 at 14:10, Cicero said:

Still cunts

Why?

[bozziovai]

well, in terms of integrity, Atletico has more of it than Real.

but in terms of trophies for the past decade or so we can only mention that one time they won la liga,  with their three europas, one copa del rey and that double madrid derby in the champions league finals.

[SirBalon]

6 minutes ago, bozziovai said:

well, in terms of integrity, Atletico has more of it than Real.

but in terms of trophies for the past decade or so we can only mention that one time they won la liga,  with their three europas, one copa del rey and that double madrid derby in the champions league finals.

True... Real Madrid have won 1 more La Liga than Atlético Madrid in the last decade.  

[bozziovai]

5 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

True... Real Madrid have won 1 more La Liga than Atlético Madrid in the last decade.  

i know you'll say that    

since we're on the topic of trophies, why the heck are the two madrid teams aren't able to win the Copa Del Rey in common fashion ??   Barcelona is like a python in this competition, they have it wrapped up super tight in the last four years.

 

with Real, i have my own innocent analysis, they don't facking care.    their sole focus is the UCL.     but with atletico, they always lag behind Real and Barca  in la liga with some lucky games in the UCL, they should focus more on the CDR to add up more on their cabinet   

[SirBalon]

28 minutes ago, bozziovai said:

i know you'll say that    

since we're on the topic of trophies, why the heck are the two madrid teams aren't able to win the Copa Del Rey in common fashion ??   Barcelona is like a python in this competition, they have it wrapped up super tight in the last four years.

 

with Real, i have my own innocent analysis, they don't facking care.    their sole focus is the UCL.     but with atletico, they always lag behind Real and Barca  in la liga with some lucky games in the UCL, they should focus more on the CDR to add up more on their cabinet   

Atlético Madrid have lagged further behind in the past before Simeone arrived and the club itself took modern football seriously. They along with Juventus are the biggest progressive clubs in Europe by a massive margin and considering Juve have been historically a bigger brand name, then what Atleti have done is miraculous.

Remember that before Diego Simeone Atlético Madrid had only been to one European Cup/Champions League Final in their history previous which they lost in a replay against Bayern Munich unluckily... Unlucky in that tournament is their personal brand name.