Atlético Madrid’s Results and Diego Simeone’s Rhetoric – What They Teach Us about Suffering, Resilience and Hope
There’s a common phenomenon experienced by Atlético Madrid fans this season: Be outplayed, be dominated, concede, feel the weight of an inevitable loss on the horizon, and then boom … Atleti wins. The doubts surrounding an impending doom evaporate and the euphoria of a successful smash-and-grab begins to permeate.
Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat always feels different, it feels special, because it is rare. Yet in the particular case of Atlético Madrid this season, the feeling of an unfolding miracle remains despite it happening so many times now that it just cannot be uniquely fortuitous.
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In times of tumultuous chaos, we humans are prone to losing perspective and losing hope, except for a visionary few. In the recent UEFA Champions League matchup vs. Bayer Leverkusen, tumultuous chaos was certainly experienced. On the stroke of half-time, Atleti found themselves down by one man, down by one goal and down by almost every metric imaginable – passes completed, passes into the opponent penalty area, shots on target etc.
All this against one of the most tactically astute and technically formidable teams in Europe. Considering this, expectations of a turnaround were slim amongst certain Atleti fans. I cannot speak for all, but when scrolling down social media, an understanding of the monumental task at hand was definitely present, accompanied by a sense of resignation. This is despite Atleti being in such similar situations before – the PSG and the Barcelona game immediately come to mind.
In both these eventual 2-1 victories, Atleti first fell behind and experienced complete domination, but somehow held onto only one goal conceded going into half-time. So why is it so hard to reassure one’s own mind based on this prior experience? Well, the mind can be full of trickery, and it can prompt thoughts of “Okay that did happen, but surely not again, that would be ridiculous.”
So, prospects of another turnaround are watered down, especially given that on this occasion Atleti are down to ten men – better to be cynical and protected than to build pointless hope that turns to disappointment, right? Yet in the Leverkusen game, it happened again, and once again we were left feeling shocked and amazed by something we have seen before, and only a few weeks ago.
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Will we ever become accustomed to it? Or are our minds predisposed to panic, and to flood the body with a bunch of impulsive emotions whilst we get punched in the face? Fans can be forgiven for this entirely natural way of thinking, but a person employed to lead must not.
A leader must battle and bargain with his foot soldiers to not lose hope in the face of overwhelming, impending forces, because that’s how winning is done. This is not easy to do, overwriting human nature takes a special kind of elite motivation, step forward Diego Simeone.
Somewhere along the line, it seems Simeone twigged that in aspirations of greatness, one must develop an exceptional calmness of mind, and visionary perseverance in the face of such beatings. Many elite athletes also seem to awaken to this belief – that dogged determination and resilience carries you over the thin red line, the line between mediocrity and greatness.
There are some reoccurring buzzwords that Simeone refers to before and after these victories that are indicative of his overall philosophy towards football, and how to navigate the beatings specifically. This philosophy also seems to conform towards his overall approach to life, as he has specifically stated on occasion.
So let’s take a look. Tallying the exact utterance of each word became too difficult, but these seem to be the most repeated that I have picked up on:
- Suffering
- Humility
- Interpretation
- Decisiveness
- Hard work
These words, which are repeatedly quoted and endorsed by Simeone, seem to summarize the constant, unfolding narrative of the games in which Atleti have gotten their most important points this season.
It first starts with suffering. In recent contexts, this means being totally outclassed and experiencing major setbacks. Humility must be exercised to understand this, accept it and to foster the resilience needed to endure it. Suffering without humility can turn to anger, frustration and bitterness. Interpretation of the situation is then required to understand available opportunities, when to act, when not to act.
When you decide to act, that’s when you must commit whole-heartedly, without hesitation, with decisiveness. All this must be sugar-coated by hard work, or perhaps, the exercising of all these cognitive states is indeed the hard work. This is all conveniently encapsulated by the game-winning goal against PSG, but before that joyous extra-time winner, this game consisted of a lot of suffering, and a lot of humility to accept that opposition’s dominance.
Atleti were penned in and their Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak was putting out fires. But in added time, when PSG seemed to be losing hope, that’s when Atleti gained it. The Rojiblancos rushed up the pitch after defending a corner. Antoine Griezmann received the ball from Oblak near the halfway line and soon came a pivotal moment – a solitary glance from Griezmann to interpret the situation and decide which type of ball to play, and to who.
Griezmann decided on Ángel Correa, who was making a lung-busting run-by from his own penalty area to reach the opposition one. He received the cross-field switch from Griezmann, and despite options around him, he instinctually cut inside and tucked the ball into the corner.
The last-minute winner against Barcelona was remarkably similar. Atleti were at first nervous and constantly gifting chance after chance to Raphinha. Barcelona’s superiority for large portions of the game caused a lot of suffering, and a lot of humility was required to endure and keep the scoreline at a rescuable number.
Rodrigo De Paul’s upwards glance on the counterattack was the pivotal moment of interpretation, he considered his options and decided on a threaded through ball for a marauding Nahuel Molina, who worked extremely hard to make up the ground, and he rewarded himself with a game-winning assist to Alexander Sørloth. Sørloth instinctually put the ball in the net much like Correa did against PSG. One touch for Sørloth, two touches for Correa, nothing else in the mind but the technique and the target – utter decisiveness.
Such eerie parallels were evident against Leipzig in the 2-1 victory, and against Bilbao during the 1-0 victory at San Mamés this season. As of the time of writing, this totals 14 last-minute goals in 31 games this season. In essence, Atleti are proving to have that extra edge that positively separates a draw from a loss, or a victory from a draw.
They are finding a way to get over that thin red line, the line between mediocrity and greatness, through the blueprint that Simeone so often articulates: Humility in suffering, interpretation in opportunity, decisiveness in action, all against the backdrop of hard work, which steers you through it all.
I may add that this blueprint seems a solid basis for approaching life, as the lines between the two seem to converge in Simeone’s all-encompassing outlook. Although there is still a long way to go, and although Atleti have no ultimate honors yet, they are pushing forwards when others are retreating backwards, they are pushing themselves to the limits – and this is often when humanity achieves greatness.
There are of course many more repeated sentiments in Simeone’s rhetoric that could be analyzed, much of which has already been picked apart, such as his abidance by the “partido a partido” mentality, his belief in a strong defense etc. However, in this current Atleti season, there has arguably never been such a close correlation between the echo of his words, and their distinct vibrations on the pitch.
It’s rather uncanny how often his outlook and approach is being reproduced into observable patterns. So next time, in the midst of the suffering, or when the final bell is tolling, let’s try not be so surprised by what happens next. The sun always comes up … as long as you see the night through.
By: Daniel Sowerby / @ArticulateFball
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Flor Tan Jun / Getty Images