Why No One Can Copy Atletico Madrid's Fluid Formation

Diego simonee is redefining how we should think about formations in football while Atletico Madrid May line up in a 442 on paper that shape is almost unrecognizable in possession there's no fixed Target man the Wingers are rarely out wide on the flanks and at times there's basically not even a Midfield but this fluidity isn't chaos and the football that emerges is one of the most intricate in La Liga one that looks completely different every attack and with every substitution let's take a look Welcome Back to Football meta the summer headlines for La Liga were dominated

by big moves like Killian mbappe to Real Madrid and hansy flick being appointed as the Barcelona manager but some of the biggest moves were seemingly hiding in plain sight with Atletico Madrid bringing in key players like Julian Alvarez Connor Gallagher and Alexander soloff giving Simone incredible Squad depth that was holding them back in previous Seasons these signings are allowing Simone to take his principles one step further evolving his tactics without losing his identity and Atletico are proving to be a team that can adapt to any opponent from more defensive shapes to attacking shapes that can

give any defensive line a hard time now trying to explain how Atletico Madrid build their attacks isn't so straight forward because there isn't a specific structure that they rely on so we need to look for subtle patterns rather than specific rotations to help understand let's keep these three ideas in mind from goal kicks the center backs start in close proximity X imity to oblak with the fullbacks in a deep connected position on the flanks this shape during buildup means if the opposition press them high up the pitch it creates big gaps in behind the press

that Atletico will want to take advantage of during buildup it's common for teams to want to keep the ball as Central as possible rotating between the center backs and looking for passes into the middle this is because moving the ball out wide instantly can get you trapped on the flank but Atletico actively encouraged the opposition to move over and will nearly always try to build their attacks out wide as it creates this Central space that they often look to move into either with the midfielder shifting over or the striker or Wingers dropping deep essentially going

out to go in there's two examples from their game against Barcelona that highlight this point first moving over to the left drawing in the press and then there is space in the center for baros to receive the ball on the second occasion this space is occupied by the fullback in possession cutting in inside in situations where there is no space to go into the middle then they can also go down the line but the ball will nearly always eventually end up back in the center of the pitch the reason why this space is often vacant

is also down to the rotations of the two midfielders in baros and the pool while they start in a line they very quickly stagger their position with baros acting as the only holding midfielder in the center and the poor adding numbers to the attack and pushing forward this is reflected in both their play play function with Barrios dictating buildup more frequently and the pool being much more effective in the final third and as the team's chance Creator these slightly more vertical rotations in the center unlock so many different rotations that Atletico Madrid will use for

example while theol will push further up on the right the left inside channel can be occupied by anyone from the Winger in gallaga Alvarez or even griezman shifting over and can result in big clusters of players on one side of the pitch in this clip here against sevil we can see how deole has pushed forward and baros is Shifting over as the only pivot in the center because the fullbacks are in a wide position it opens up a central channel for a pass in this case into gallaga who's moved inside flicking It Forward into Alvarez

also dropping deep to add support these rotations in the center mean that Atletico can create big groups of players on the flank and get a lot of players forward on the attack but it also means that they can often get trapped on the flank which leads us to the next crucial point on how they want to build their attacks and that is the second ball one thing I realized when watching Atletico is that not all their moves are a joy to watch and they do lose possession relatively frequently but the clever trick is that they

lose possession in areas where they know they can win it back instantly it's common in fact to see the opposition close off any Central pass meaning the only option is a ball over the top but because they have lots of players rotating and picking up pockets of space even if they don't win the aerial Jewel they will will very frequently pick up the loose ball and can start their attack from a more advanced position take this clip from their game against ra valad lorente is trapped on the flank so he plays it Forward Atletico don't

even challenge for the header but the close proximity of these players means they can win the loose ball and play their way out of the press and find Space to push forward Atletico are not a team that is all about possession and controlling the tempo of the game like Barcelona or Real Madrid and if the moment is right they will go long into the striker or Wingers but it's when they move up the pitch that this team becomes much more enjoyable to watch and it's with players like Griezmann and alare where everything starts to click

into place and here is also where Simone's thirdd core principle is most evident we'll take a look at how the system changes when soloff is playing but with Griezmann and Alvarez Atletico are a team that give the opposition nothing to latch onto they take it in turns playing down the middle and more often than not you will spot them in Midfield or out wide on the flanks creating overloads with the Wingers and midfielders pushing forward ahead of them but the main idea is that they are always occupying a vacant space not following a specific structure

Griezmann is particularly fun to watch showing up everywhere during the match with small connecting passes and always finding pockets of space one thing you may notice when watching Atletico is that Griezmann is often standing well beyond the defensive line in an offside position while this may seem as a pretty counterintuitive move as it means Atletico a basically playing with 10 men when building their attack Griezmann uses this position to make long vertical runs to add support and ensure the opposition can't keep track of him he will drop consistently with other players attacking forward or if

Atletico are breaking forward quickly he will use the defensive Line's momentum to his Advantage for example in this clip here Griezmann is starting in an offside position as Atletico Break Free the defensive line pushes back and the Frenchman is now in and on side position without moving more than a few meters from where the move started he is now perfectly positioned to receive the ball in space or a similar example is this goal against Seville starting from an offside position before the defensive line drops back and he's now in space to receive the ball and

push forward in the final third Atletico want to create the vast majority of their chances from Cut backs and throw balls the key to this is getting the fullbacks forward and to do so Depo or baros will often drift out wide to form for back three and the fullbacks will then overlap or underlap into the half space looking for passes into this area to then be finished off by Runners joining the move the fullbacks joining the attack means Atletico can end up with a lot of players on the defensive line and once again because of

all these positional rotations any player can end up on the end of the move because of this system that Simone is creating that is not dependent on any specific shape it means different players will result in different types of attacks and that is exactly where their top scorer Alexander soloff comes into the picture simonee has been a master of substitutions this season and Atletico have already had a number of late winners thanks to the changes he's made and the introduction of soloff into the team changes their identity quite substantially and it means they have a

Target man to aim for in the center for this reason through balls and cutbacks Make Way for crosses and Atletico look to get the ball into the box earlier their winner against GFE is a perfect example of how soloff can change the game with a deep delivery onto the second post and an excellent placed header back across the goal atletico's offensive rotations have already caused a number of issues for the opposition this season but let's not forget who we're talking about and the way Atletico defend is a defining characteristic of Simone Atletico currently have the

best defensive record in the league and they've done so without pressing the opposition in fact they rank low in the league for pressing metrics preferring to form a midblock for 4 42 shape against the back three they aggressively push forward to close down the player in possession and the Defenders are comfortable breaking the defensive line and moving up the pitch to ensure the player receiving the ball can't turn around this does mean however that the midfielders will need to follow their man more closely and it results in Atletico shifting into a back five defensive shape

if needed and it's often quite common to see them adopt the back six as well this defensive shape ensures the opposition has no space to to move through the middle and will be forced to play the ball out wide and look for crosses into the box finally from a position like this counterattacks also become a crucial component for Atletico and their ability to get forward quickly has resulted in some important wins this season their two goals against Barcelona came exactly from these situations regaining possession deep in their own half before aggressively getting numbers forward but

if you want to know more about the weaknesses of this Atletico Madrid team then I have my first video that is members only on thean Channel I've been thinking of different ways to give back to the people that have been supporting the channel over the years and I think this is an excellent way to add more context on the teams that I'm analyzing without excluding any of the information that I would have included in the original video so if you want more information on any of these videos then there will be a part two that

is members only thank you so much for watching to the end again really appreciate your support on the channel and leave any feedback in the comments down below and we'll make sure this segment is as useful and as interesting as it can be thanks for watching