Has such a promising side ever been picked apart so quickly? What the hell has happened? Courtois, gone. Asenjo, gone. Adrian, gone. Villa, gone. Costa, gone. Diego, gone. Tiago, gone. Filipe, gone I know they've signed a decent keeper, forward and fullback to replace a few of those but how do we think they'll do next season? What's the reason for such a mad exodus?
Here's a starting point for this. Of that 8 only 3 were regular starters (Curtois, Felipe, Costa). Asenjo has been largely out on loan for 4 years, Adrian flopped, massively, and Villa while showing the odd patch of his old self was quite evidently no longer of the calibre required. Thiago has been replaced by the brilliant Koke, and Mario Suarez can also fill in that slot. Curtois, well he was never owned by Atletico and has already been replaced, no biggie. Felipe, well, this one is a blow, they tried to keep him, but supposedly will replace with Natxo Monreal from Arsenal, very similar standard, just that England didn't suit him. Then, Costa.... Costa is not, never has and never will be a truly top class striker, and well Atletico know this. He is incredibly poor one on one, he doesn't strike the ball especially well, and he will never get the better of a strong pacey CB, never. He is good instinctively, something which worked well last season with the form of Turan and the above mentioned Koke, but no way would he have repeated that consistently, bear in mind he'd been loaned out to average teams previously and his goal return was piss poor. Atletico ALWAYS sell at the right time, and they will replace him, from Portugal, for a tiny fragment of the fee. Diego, well, he was **** generally, don't let the eye catching odd goal trick you, and he is supposedly a bit of a party boy off the park, Simeone won't have that. Sum up, Atletico will be just as good a side by kick off, sadly for them, Real & Barca will not drop points again like last year and they will fall back to 3rd.
Would never say I know too much about the league but I must admit that on World Cup showing I reckon Costa will become Torres mark 2. What's that Siqueira like as a replacement for Filipe? Madzukic (?) for Costa?
Siquera was class for Granada the season before last, he nearly signed for Liverpool I think, was a surprise that he went to Portugal. He's very good going forward but a bit suspect defensively positioning wise, definitely a talent though. Juanfran the RB was a midfielder and Simeone has turned him into a really excellent RB, so maybe he repeats the trick and they have a quality all round LB. They are supposedly after Monreal though, who's good in both directions. Costa will not score a lot of goals IMO, I could be wrong, but I will be stunned if I am.
I honestly think that Real's shadow is just too big and players when they think they can get a big move out of atletico they jump. Havinh been to Madrid you wouldn't even know atletico existed. Their achievements last year were outstanding, akin to Everton wininng the league and getting to cl final here.
No matter how much Barca, Man United etc argue, we all know Real are the biggest, most famous club in the world. Atletico with the new stadium will be able to compete with the big 2, but it would take 100 years for them to be seen anywhere near Madrid, if it's ever possible. You are right, although I find Atletico ARE quite prominent in Madrid, just not as prominent as Real, by some way.
I wouldn't argue with them being a bigger club than United, they're the best club as well, but I'd definitely argue the 'famous' thing. Our fan base is twice the size of Real Madrid's due to our presence in Asia, this is massively reflected in our latest sponsorship and kit deals that make RM's deals seem like pennies. £90m a year more we will get than Real Madrid from the company who make Real Madrid's shirts. United are the most famous club and brand in all of sports.
