Can Diego Simeone develop Atletico Madrid's style, asks Guillem Balague
Tuesday 30 August 2016 09:17, UK
In his second column of the new La Liga season, Guillem Balague assesses Barcelona's early title defence, Atletico Madrid's continued struggles, Alvaro Morata's impact at Real Madrid, Sevilla's form and Las Palmas' unexpected start to the campaign.
Champions Barcelona maintained their 100 per cent start to the season thanks to a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while Real Madrid matched their rivals' impressive form by beating Celta Vigo 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu 24 hours earlier.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid were surprisingly held to a goalless draw at Leganes, but leading La Liga after the first two matches on goal difference are Las Palmas, who thrashed Granada 5-1.
But what did we learn from the weekend's fixtures? Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Balague dissects the performances of last season's top three before answering YOUR questions...
Tense times at the Calderon
Atletico fans are getting a little bit tense. They see a team with a lot of quality, but even against two promoted sides, they play with the handbrake on.
It is only in the second halves that you see a more attacking Atletico.
Why Diego Simeone does not do this before, I do not know. He keeps talking about thinking and reflecting on what Atletico should be like. I think what he is talking about is they may have to step up and go for the games earlier, even though his instinct is to do something else, to play with more precaution, which is what he has generally done for the last four and a half years.
Fascinating theme of the season already: will Simeone change, progress, develop his style?
Both Saul and Antoine Griezmann showed their frustrations after the game, with Griezmann saying if they continue like this, they are going to be relegated, which is a little bit exaggerated, but you can feel the camp is tense.
Surprise pacesetters
After two magnificent games, against Granada coach Quique Setien said they had 80 very good minutes and 10 that were not so good, which for Las Palmas I would say is good enough.
In the process, they scored nine goals - four against Valencia and five against Granada and that is what links Quique Setien to the historical spirit and philosophy of Las Palmas.
They are the type of club that loves to play on the offensive, they never expect to win anything, but they want their team to be full of local boys and this squad has got plenty and also to play offensive football.
So they are doing very well and they realise obviously that the target is not to be relegated. But after they scored the second, they wanted the third and so on. Against Granada, El Zhar, the former Liverpool player, was fantastic, scored two goals, assisted another and created havoc.
After the game, Granada boss Paco Jemez said he has to prove he is a first division coach and if the club do not think he is, they should take action, which is quite a statement after only two weeks of La Liga.
Barca's two key men
It was a difficult game against Athletic Bilbao. It was intense and high tempo. Two names pop up: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was the fourth player on the pitch with most passes, which is outstanding for a goalkeeper. He made one big mistake, which could have cost Barcelona.
But even though a lot of people say goalkeepers should not use their foot so much, Ter Stegen gives more to the side than he takes away and he will continue to do so. He has to improve, of course, and aim for 100 per cent good passes, but it is how Barcelona have decided to play.
And Ivan Rakitic will be the second name - when Barcelona have the opportunity, they attack directly which means when they lose the ball - because there are a lot of fast counter-attacking and transitions - they are not in a position to recover it high up. There is a lot of box-to-box football, which reinforces the quality of the front three, but makes control of games more difficult.
That is when they are at their best, running towards goal and combining. When they do not score, the fourth player helping the team in that department is Rakitic, and he did much more than that. He was very good at dribbling in midfield, breaking up lines of pressure, recovering possession. He was good at keeping the pace up, he did a lot of work without the ball, he was fantastic.
Morata finally off the mark
Finally Morata scored in an official game. His shoulders were getting heavier and heavier with the responsibility, he is a completely different striker to what they have, and will add different layers.
He can hold the ball, of course, but is very powerful in the first 10 metres and that unnerves any defence, because he constantly goes and he helps Real a lot to build the pressure high. It is wonderful to see Real pressing high and I wonder if they will keep that up when Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo come back? Ronaldo is ready for the next game on September 10. We don't know yet when Benzema will return.
And what will happen to Morata when they come back?
Rico under threat in Andalucia
Sevilla were very disappointing. They were too concerned about the mistakes made against Espanyol in the 6-4 game where the hero was Sergio Rico, the goalkeeper. That's an interesting situation as he was Spain's third-choice 'keeper at Euro 2016, yet he has not been called up by new boss Julen Lopetegui.
But now he has got competition as Salvatore Sirigu has been signed from Paris Saint-Germain because of his ability to play with the ball with his feet. According to the coaching staff, Rico struggles with this skill. So there is big competition, but it is strange that Sevilla went for potentially another No 1 when they already have a goalkeeper like that.
Guillem answers your questions
What's the latest on Ronaldo and what are your expectations for him this season? (@madridistar1001)
Only a superhero can talk the same language to another superhero - I'm talking about Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both are superheroes in their own right. Ronaldo could be on the bench sometimes or rested more often by Zidane and I think Ronaldo will accept that for the first time in his career.
That's the plan Zidane has anyway. It remains to be seen whether he activates it. I expect Ronaldo to continue scoring goals but, as we've seen, the problem with his knee and the fact that he has peaked physically means his influence in games have been diminishing for the last year and a half.
What's the situation at right-back for Barca? Is Sergi Roberto still the main option? (@chuckblas21)
Sergi Roberto is the main option at Barca, with Aleix Vidal not trusted. I think Sergi Roberto is one of the top right-backs in the world now. I believe he knows how play for Barcelona both defensively and offensively.
What are your thoughts on the Spain squad? (@tomjenkins97)
It makes a lot of sense that Iker Casillas wasn't called up. Julen Lopetegui told Iker that David de Gea was his main man and basically suggested to him that he didn't need Casillas on the bench. Vicente del Bosque complained about the tension created by Casillas when he was put on the bench in the Euros, so Lopetegui is acting on that.
Generally, there is a lot of quality in the Spain squad, but we don't have Xavi, Carles Puyol or David Villa. We are going to have to wait until some of the players reach their potential before we can speak about Spain being favourites for everything again. I hope we can, but we still haven't got that level yet.
Who is most likely to be departing Real Madrid before the transfer window closes? What about incomings, has their chase of David Alaba ended? (@Studge55)
Real Madrid are saying that they are not going to sign anybody. They are waiting to see if anyone wants James Rodriguez. Even though Zidane has said James will stay, the door is still open for him to go. But I don't see anybody coming in for him, there have been no offers for more than €60m, which is what Real Madrid want.
