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Marsh calls for Martinez to show some better form
With a 27-rated goalkeeper in the net it would be expected that Atletico Madrid would have a tight conceded goals column this season. Martinez has not quite provided the defensive stability expected and he is currently performing at only 10th place from 20 EFL 1 keepers.
Marsh commented "We have remained patient and allowed Martinez to remain club captain this season despite having the option of a 25-rated striker with the armband. Its time for him to step up for the remainder of the season and be a brick wall for us. We need to be increasing to nearer 9 shots per goal conceded rather than 8.
Martinez has been busy working on the training ground this past week and having treatment for a finger injury that has hampered his season playing through the pain barrier this campaign. Waiting in the wings is young understudy Urbig who has managed to get 610 minutes of football due to the number 1s injuries and a dead rubber 6th champions league game. If the season peters out then Urbig may well end up getting more game time at the expense of a benched Martinez. The threat is there for Argentinian keeper.
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Atletico facing suspension tightrope
5 players are currently on the verge of a 1 match suspension. Skrinair, Frimpong, Cristane, Odegaard, Muani are the players walking the tightrope this season. To try and counter this threat the club splashed out £31m on M_Pasalic. A 7-20-17 player is a very useful player who can play 2-3 positions on the field if called upon. It was hard to decide on whether to go for a defensive cover or attacking cover and in the end the factor was which player became available on the open market. Pasalic had been made available for transfer and with the weekly transfer deadline looming Marsh acted to bring in a player we once managed before.
Marsh commented "The wage bill does not look great but we needed another body in because after our best 12 outfield players we do not have much. The quality of academy we were started with was the worst in the entire league and the free academy player we got was the worst in the entire league. Unfortunately it has meant we have a real gap between our main 12 players and the rest and unlike most other clubs we have nothing coming from under. A good young 18-rated player with 15-16 secondaries useful but we have a 17-12 and our free player was unplayable and left the club. Pasa should give us some great cover at cost. His wages plus a £1.2m loss on his transfer is not cheap but he is very likely to get some match time over the coming weeks and we didnt want to end up going into a cup game having to field a 17-rated player.
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FFO break a welcome one for Atletico manager
Simon Marsh spoke today with regards to the mid-season break that has halted the FFO season.
Marsh commented "Firstly we hope all is well in the JB household and fully support the break that was needed to have some family time. Secondly its been a welcome break from me because its given us some time without enduring some further poor results! Form has been more down than up this season and although it could still be a successful one the break has come at a good time for us to take stock, get back on the training field and work on a few things that we have lacked this season. Hopefully we can iron out a few issues, increase how energy and confidence levels and come back for the run-in a better side both tactically, physically and mentally".
The Atletico season does indeed still have a change to swing into something positive. A victory at Liverpool would see the club reach the Champions league semi-finals, Ac Milan stand in the way of an EFL semi finals and catching up 6-7 points with 51 still to play for is without doubt dobale and so if the club can come back stronger the season could yet be a great one.
The clubs bank balance currently stands at £8m but in Palasic and Adopo there is a £40m cash income that is likely to be taken before the end of the season giving the club a healthy balance come the end.
Thirteen of the current twenty-five man squad have made the retaining minutes. There does not appear any players in danger of not making their full playing minutes at this stage of the season.
Marsh has been accused of lacking focus on Atletico Madrid with care-taking roles at both Bristol City and Bournemouth. Bournemouth now have a new manager in place which will help reduce the workload.
Marsh commented "I was called a jack of all trades, master of none this week which made me chuckle. Its probably true. Its not easy managing two Atletico teams, Bristol, Bournemouth and Asbo All Stars across all formats of the game and I have made one or two errors. We will carry on playing in three leagues for now because its a good escape from the harsh realities of life.
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Atletico Madrid 2 Liverpool 2
The quarter finals of the champions league brough last seasons DPT finalists Atletico and Liverpool together again. Both sides have displayed very poor league form although Liverpool are in decent form at present and making strides to get back into things
On the day there wasnt a lot between the side with a shot count of 12-8. Slightly disappointing Atletico couldnt nick a lead for the second leg.
Marsh commented "Its set up well for the second leg which is good for the neutral fans with all the other ties having decent leaders. This one is likely to be the televised match for the neutrals to enjoy. Hopefully some of our big players can step up when we need them to produce some magic to take us further than we've been before".
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Atletico Madrid 2 - 2 Marseille
The manager will once again scratch his head at how his side did not win this game. A shot count of 25-10 with better goalkeeping and shooting skills should only end up in a heavy home win but this is Atletico. Another disappointment to shelve with the others.
Manager Simon Marsh commented "I just despair. We knew we would probably lose the tactical advantage but felt our team was strong enough with home advantage to dominate the game. I would have expected a 3-4 goal win from the statistics and here we are with another 2 point dropped. The league campaign has been incredibly poor for us and we struggle to finish top-8 unless we can catch a few breaks. Its gotten low when the most wholesome part of managing the team is seeing players closing in on their retaining minutes".
Champions league football next up with a trip to Liverpool. Thankfully no bookings to the stack of players on 8 points means a full strength squad will travel".
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Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 0 Atletico Madrid
The second half of the season commenced and it began with a poor performance from Atletico. A shot count of 9-9 not good enough against a side struggling and the spoils were rightfully shared.
Marsh commented "I thought we would create a lot more opportunities on the night but we were pretty much off it from the off. Its a point and once or two sides around us didnt get good results so we stay in an around the same sort of position.
Transfer news. With five players teetering on suspension Atletico have brought in M_Pasalic from Aston Villa which should provide some good cover especially with the champions league quarter finals looming.
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Atletico Madrid 0 Southampton 2
Atletico played 7 reserves in the final group game with neither team requiring results. Atletico could have attempted to win the group but instead chose to play Urbig, Senior, Kalambayi, Bronico, Kilkenny, Adopo, Meier and Tanner.
The team played relatively well only losing the shot count 5-10.
Bronico, Kilkenny and Tanner are now all retained next season with some of the others now a lot closer to their targets. 9/24 players have now met their minutes.
Havertz got himself up to a 7-21-22 player.
Big positives for the season and a headache eased.
Atletico Madrid will now face Liverpool in the quarter finals on the champions league with the first leg at home.
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Atletico Madrid 2 Rangers 1
With Burrows awakening from a tactical slumber Atletico's hopes of an easy win disappeared. Rangers have played passing since week 11 and so anything else was a surprise. The counter came and the game would be closer. A shot count of 19-9 was worthy of probably a two-goal win but any win will do particularly when the winner comes in the 89th minute. A huge relief to get the first half of the season over with.
Atetico have managed to grab 8th place but are far from breaking away from Marseille, Barcelona, Roma and Monaco. The manager will be looking up though.
Marsh commented "For sure that was a poor first half of the season overall but we have a squad capable of overtaking several clubs above us. Second place is not beyond the club if we can get some good form going but it will be a big effort to get there".
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Celtic 0 Atletico Madrid 1
Its unclear as to why Celtic have been so poor this season. They look better on paper than actual results.
Atletico Madrid did control this one with a 6-15 shot count but had to wait until the 77th minute before scoring the winning goal.
Manager Simon Marsh commented "It felt like a game we should be winning when on looks at the table but then the celtic team does not look terrible so I wasnt unsurprised that it might still be a grind to get the win. With one game to go until the half way point we have got to 8th place. Win the 19th game and with a few teams at the top playing each other we could be in a position to try and catch a few during the second half of the season".
There was transfer news this week when several bids were made for Cristante, Havertz and one for Skriniar as the club looked to change direction. One or two managers appeared upset when Atletico announced the players would be staying.
Marsh commented "The offers coming in for Skiniar and Havertz were poor and nowhere near being acceptable. Cristante did get a more interesting cash offer and the temptation was there but at the end of the day with the general direction of FFO landscape changing quite some distance we decided to stick. It would have been worse to agree deals and pull out which we resisted from doing".
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Atletico Madrid 3 Leeds United 0
A big win that sees Atletico safely through to the last 8 of the tournament. Atletico swapped between passing and attacking tactics believing that Leeds would not counter given they needed the victory. Leeds still countered! An overall shot count of 10-4 with some clinical finishing against Leed's rather poor goalkeeper.
Juventus have also qualified for the last 8.
With the last games being dead rubbers it is likely Atletico will play their fringe players to retain their playing rights for next season.
Senior, Kalambayi, Bronico, Tanner, Kilkenny, Meier and Adopo are all likely to feature meaning it could be Atleticos weakest ever side named.
Southampton have their own player minute issues to resolve.
Manager Simon Marsh commented "Its a decent achievement to get out of the group stages because their are no weak sides or managers. It will certainly make sense for us to play a weakened side in the last game. Had there been any hope of Leeds or Soton qualifying we would have played full strength but this gives us an opportunity of almost resolving our entire minutes issues in one game".
WC 2055
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