Copa del Rey: Atlético 1 – 0 Athletic

Ahmad I don’t think going to Monaco was entirely Falcao’s decision, and unfortunately neither was coming to Atletico. He signed his rights away as a young player a there’s not much he can do at this point. He gave us his all and then got pushed away by his agent. I feel very sorry for his injury.

About todays game, I think we played well in most aspects other than controlling the ball. We created a lot more chances than our recent games and we were never really defensively troubled. I do think Diego Costa needs a game off though, I thought he played well today, created space and chances. Ahmad I don’t know who you think Diego Costa is but he’s a player who will always do everything he can to win. He will dive, he will argue every decision. Not accepting that would be naive. However his yellow in today’s game was undeserving.

This is odd thing to say Arjit !!
of course I can not accept Costa’s bad behavior,
yeah, maybe I can accept the aggressiveness as it’s his style of play
but I can never accept the diving, the arguing with the refs, hitting the opponents (like that elbow he gave to Athletic defender tonight) .. and everybody should never accept that either .. and I believe they don’t

you make it sounds like he can never change, but he can .. and it’s Simeone’s job

I’m 31, so I have seen Simeone plays for a long time,
and he also was aggressive, tough and sometimes nervous, but he was never stupid aor reckless
he didn’t receive many yellow or red cards, although he was a defensive midfielder
in fact, he was the opposite of stupid, he was very smart
I still remember Argentina vs England in France 98, when he provoked Beckham several times until Beckham kicked him and seen a direct red

but Costa is not like that, in many occasions he is the Beckham,
he is the one who gets the yellow or the red,
like that one against Viktoria Plzeň which got him suspended for 4 games in Europe
now why should I accept that ?!
why should any fan of any club accept that from their best player, from their top scorer ?!

will you still defend him if he saw a 3rd yellow in the 2nd leg and missed the semifinal vs Real Madrid, (if we both qualified), which will be his 3rd in 5 games in the cup, for a striker ?!!
I don’t think so

And by the way, I believe his yellow today was totally deserved

Costa needs some discipline .. It’s very obvious
I can’t even believe that some people don’t see it ! .. or see it but believe that he can not change !!

Yes, He Can

I’m not worried about Godin, he received two kicks near his “precious diamonds”…so i totally understand why he was so upset 😉
Diego Costa is nervous only because he hasn’t scored yet in 2014. Cholo and the team can help him to contain his aggressiveness…but can’t change Diego Costa feline DNA 🙂
The problem is that our opponents know his “weak point” and it’s easy for them to provoke him to do stupid things.

I wanna talk about Josuha.
only 45 minutes. Cholo does subs rarely…but right after the 1st half…even more rarely (last was probably Oliver…and he didn’t played anymore since that subs).
I think it’s obvious that Simeone doesn’t trust Guilavogui.
Unless….Cholo wanted to keep high the center of gravity of the team; josuha was too near the defense.
With Gabi in the 2nd half we were more offensive and he started some good counter-attacks.

But i’m afraid that with the return of Mario, Josuha will see rarely the bench.

Toby didn’t impress me yesterday. After his complaints i expected a super performance…but he was ok.
a couple of insecurities.

Adrian and Cebolla: again a missed chance.

Villa: wow he did a wonderful long pass to Diego Costa (if i remember it correctly). and he looked active and fast.

Koke did a great match, with some marvelous assists.

One thing that has almost driven me crazy yesterday, and will drive me even more in the foreseeable future is Cholo’s substitution system.
On one hand, he keeps playing Adrián, and tells us we should give him our support and trust. In fact, this lad brings nothing to our play, except Adrián is an excellent finishing player by means, any play linked with him has the end at his feet.
On the other hand, and while I understand the teams integrity and unity is much needed, he never plays subs even if we’re leading. All of us agree, that Oli, Cebolla or Manquillo need to have more playtime.
He crowned himself as an idiot (just by means of using subs) yesterday, when he pulled Guilavogui out of action after 45 mins and going into 2nd half leading on goals, after Josuha didn’t put a foot wrong. Even if he’s Mendes babydoll, we have him at the team and against physical opponents (just like Athletic or Sevilla), this guy should simply play. I feel bad for Guilavogui. He chose wrong team and fell out of French national team. He didn’t get minutes even if Mario was injured, now he’s almost back and Guilavogui can sit on couch at home and watch our games with beer at his hand.
You can bet we’ll run at Rayo with this line-up:
Courtois, Juanfran, Godín, Miranda, Filipe, Koke, Tiago, Gabi, Arda, Villa and Costa. And then, at San Mamés again this same line-up, maybe Adrián and RG will play ahead of Villa and Arda.
That’s it, I was angry yesterday, and I actually turned off the stream when I saw Gabi on the field. Not that anyone should care, I’m just writing my own expressions.

AHMAD I completely agree with you over the Costa issue, He has pissed me off for all of 2014 so far, its like over the holidays the hype has gotten to his head and he’s running with the ball more and doing a lot of silly off the ball things as well that can cost us.

LUBO you have every right to voice your opinion and i understand because i share the same view. Adrian continues to get more play than Oli in that position even tho he hasn’t played well for two seasons now. When will Oli get his just deserve? When someone buys him from us and he lights up the field like we know he can after a run of games under his belt and then gets a high price tag on his head? This is a ridiculous way of using one or two step ups we have sitting on the bench, Josuha deserves and deserved (yesterday) better. For heavens sake we have players that can hold the ball and pass just as well as so called top players in the world but we hardly use them because of a silly excuse as towards them being young. Cholo did take us to where we are and I for one am grateful, HOWEVER i refuse to settle, we all should always want better.

Well most of you guys said many great things (of course at some i dissagree). I will try not to tell much
1) Diego Costa is complety out of him mind, I started noticed from the 1st game against Valencia (at the cup) and I wrote it. I also said that I’m worried about him cause to tell the truth I don’t really believe he will find this form again. He and Koke were bad those weeks but I was sure Koke will find himself at one game. Costa is not concetrated at the game, he is the old ‘bad’ Costa and maybe worst cause he is just too selphish. Yesterday the cameraman all time was showing is Costa, Villa (at the bench) and Simeone talking with Mono. It was obvius that he should had go off… 3 solutions, i) sell him NOW, it’s the best time cause still he has a big price. ii) bench him more Cholo and show him that it’s not only him, i’m damn sure Maravilla and RG8 would be much better. iii) try to put the pressure away from him, he is to nervus, he just want to do all the staff and of course he can’t
2) Guilavogui, I really don’t know why Cholo benched him. He said after the match the he wanted to find other solutions. I dissagree at this staff, I read that Saint-Etienne want him back (on loan), i agree with that. Send him on loan. Mario and Tiago are coming back, he will not play any more. As Ahmad (if I remember well) said the last one Cholo changed someone at the break was against Malaga and it was Oliver, now Oli has still to play…
3) Dissagree with some of you say that Cebolla lost his chance… He had an ok game. Instead Adrian for one more game lost one more 1 vs 1… How much he has lost those 3 years?? 40??? I’m sure I would have lost less!
4) I can’t say I’m sad about Falcao’s injury… He left us for money (even though Mendes is behind this) and playing for a weaker team which has that stupid Raniery for coach.. I’m sure it would happen some day… Also as a Greek I’m happy that he won’t play at Mundial against us.
5) For one more time!! CHOLO DO NOT USE RG8 AS A RIGHT MID…. He can not help at this place…

@Arjit…. Well I never been a really fan of Costa and I believe that he is at the best time that he would ever been. I don’t like selfish players and unfortunatelly except the bad games he is selfish also. I said that maybe it will be the right chance to sell him, probably we will get 40mil, as you said he had the best season of his life… They is of course a gamble, maybe he will be better and maybe not, maybe at the summer his price would be a lot less. Of course I want him to succed at Atleti and become better, find his form and beat em all… Falcao, well except from Forlan I have the best opinion for him. Aguero did everything he could to leave, even Torres wanted to leave. But, I don’t like players leaving for money, I allways want them to fail (the same I do for Ibrahimovic, Cavani etc), so even that I still want him back….

I don’t think PISERAKOS really mean what he said about Falcao,
I’m sure that deep down, he feels sad for him
He is just angry, but he shouldn’t ..

You can feel angry at El Rata Aguero, you can hate him as you want,
I do hate him, and if he got an injury that ends his career I will not give a shit
He disrespected the club who made him, he kept saying :
“I want to move to a big club”, as he was playing for Malaga or Villareal !!
He said to his teammate (while he was wearing Atleti shirt and training at Majadahonda) :
“I want to play for Real Madrid” .. Ujfalusi was there and told that story
That was a son of a bitch

But Falcao is different, he made a mistake when he was a kid by signing for Doyen group, and became a kind of a “slave” for them, butting him in any club they want
I believe that he wanted to stay at Atleti, and I believed his tears at his farewell speech

You can’t feel angry at Falcao,
you should feel grateful for what he gave us ..
and you should feel pity for him for ending up (maybe against his will) at a crappy club in a crappy league

And Arjit, I disagree with you
It’s our right to criticize or even attack the players,
and it’s their job to accept the criticism and to be patient about the attacks

It’s our right because we are the ones who pay their salaries ..
not just those who buy the tickets, but even those who watch on TV,
these days, there is no free football games anymore
we all pay to watch, here in the middle east, I pay for beIN Sports, others of you pay for Sky, and some for Fox
Even the sponsorship is because of us, no company will sponsor a club who have no fans

And it’s the players job to accept that because we are not in the seventies or the eighties anymore where many footballers were playing -almost- for free
Today, all football players salaries are in millions, even the worst players in the worst leagues

The loyalty is not to stay at a club where everybody love you and cheer your name
The loyalty is to stay despite some or many of them are against you, until you prove them wrong

Or that’s what I think at least

Yeah, leave Falcao alone. Stop badmouthing him, talk shit about Kun instead. Falcao is such a professional. Animo Falcao!

Apparently Josuha has a muscle strain and he misses the match against rayo…. was this the reason he was subbed?

Well i hope its true and not just a cover up or something

Arjit :
I never said footballer are not humans, what I meant to say is that they are performers in front of thousands of fans in the stadiums, and millions of fans on TV, just like actors, singers, stand-up comedians .. etc
so, they know what they signed up for, there will be always criticism, jokes and sometimes insults (and I totally refuse that last one)

and about Aguero, I never said that I’m mad at him because he left, either he left for money or for trophies
many players have left among the years, Torres, Forlan, De Gea, Maxi, Falcao
and many will leave in the next years, and I don’t have any problem with them

I was very clear,
I’m angry at Aguero because the way he left,
because he disrespected the club,
because he said he wants to play at a bigger club, and ended up at Man City, which -at that time- had 2 league titles, 4 FA Cups and 1 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (beside other lesser trophies, 2 League Cups & 4 Community Shields)
while Atleti had 26 titles, of all the competitions they participated in except The Champions League, and including Intercontinental Cup
I hate him because he kept saying (while he was still wearing Atleti shirt) that he wants to go to Real Madrid, our nemesis
and after 5 years he spent with us, I’m pretty sure he know what does it mean to move from one of those teams to the other
even the managements of the 2 clubs know what does it mean to the fans and few years ago they had an unwritten agreement (but everybody knows about it) that no big player shall transfer from one of the 2 clubs to the other

I don’t even know why I’m saying that ??!!
every single Atleti fan knows what Aguero did, and they all have the same feeling about him

maybe the problem is not that I don’t think the players are humans just like us,
maybe the problem is that you are the one who doesn’t think they are human, and treating them as a superior species !!

And about that “salaries in millions” thing :
I repeat what I said, they all have salaries in millions, even worst players in worst leagues

of course not in all leagues, obviously I’m not talking about countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Andorra, Bahamas, Eritrea … (with all due respect to all these countries, I’m just talking football)
but the countries which really play football, and they are a lot, not just 4 or 5 as you said
I’m talking about most of Europe, USA, South America, all the middle east except 3 or 4 countries, the 6 or 7 richest countries in east Asia
in these countries, most footballers receive millions, not 10 or 20 millions per season, but one or two millions
and not in USD or EUROS, but in their local currencies
but it still too much

I could be wrong about some these countries, but here in Egypt and in all Arab countries in the region (Sudan, Libya, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria and others) this is the case,
I know the clubs, I know the players and I know their salaries
The average is between 500,000 and 4 million in their currencies .. and for some players it could reach 10 million

and this is a lot of money comparing to what doctors, teachers and engineers make in these countries

I am a pharmacist, and I make 60.000 (sixty thousands) Egyptian Pounds a year
while an average footballer makes 1 million .. 20 times more than me

That why I meant by the millions, Arjit

My friend, we are the fans, we are the heart and the soul of football
we are its customers .. and the customer is always right

and finally, Fuck Aguero 😉

@argit…. First of all you are right about all you said, but probably not everyone has the same ideas, me and ahmad maybe are more cruel about footballers. It’s opinion, not a fact.
@ahmad… I agree with you:P

One should never hate anybody, but Aguero is basically a cunt, and 99.5% of other Atleti fans will agree with me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever wish an injury for him. Nope. But not many leagues players earn in the “millions”. In the USA like Arijit pointed out, the average salary is 50,000 dollars. Worst teams in Spain don’t earn in the millions except for one or two players. Same goes with Serie A, even in the mid table clubs. But I see what you are trying to say, and if you take a “job” as a footballer that performs live on T.V like many singers, actors, celebrities, whatever, you best learn to handle criticism at ALL times.