Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win over Manchester United that decreed the passage to the Champions League quarterfinals continues to be talked about in England, where there has been a debate about the style of play of Diego Simeone's team, which two seasons ago had eliminated Liverpool from the same competition.
While some analysts highlight the performance of the Colchonero team at Old Trafford, others have strongly criticized the Argentine coach for his style of play and the way in which he won the victory. One of them was Robbie Fowler, former footballer for Liverpool and Manchester City, among other teams, who wrote a tough column on the British site Mirror.
“I laughed this week when I heard Gary Neville scream that his old club should name Diego Simeone as their next coach. Honestly, let's go. I'm not saying he's against football, but I am saying some of the antics his team does, some of the horrible things they do and the tactics they pursue. It's not for Manchester United. Fans would report it in a matter of weeks, and even if I really won things with it, they wouldn't stand it for long,” said the 46-year-old former player who participated in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup with England.
At the same time, the Daily Mail portal published a harsh editorial by journalist Ian Ladyman, who was upset that the Atlético de Madrid footballers, when the match was already 1-0, pretending pain after a few innings so that the clock ticked in their favor: “As a result, the ball was in play only 11 minutes and 19 seconds in the last half an hour of the match while Diego Simeone's team defended what proved to be a winning advantage. That is an amazing statistic, which should open everyone's eyes to a problem that has become endemic in our sport, to varying degrees, at all levels. On a night like that, everyone is deceived. Fans inside the stadium, viewers and this time the losing team, United.”
For this reason, the analyst charged directly against the referee, Slovenian Slavko Vincic, for not having understood that the players of the Spanish team were pretending: “He was weak and gullible and walked in all the traps that the Spanish team set for him”, adding: “Every time a player from Atlético fell to the ground, he came running like a worried aunt.”
Ladyman, who pointed out that in the last half hour of the game the ball was in play for just 11 minutes, asked to change the rules of football and copy that of rugby, in which when a player is injured, the clock stops. That way there would be no room for simulation. In turn, that would prevent the referee from having the responsibility of calculating the time that has been lost to add it later. “Let's solve the problem. Put the timing in the hands of an independent timekeeper. In stadiums where it can be accommodated, link the watch to the scoreboard. When the match is stopped due to injuries, substitutions, VAR controls and goal celebrations, it stops the clock. It's easy. Rugby does it and it works. Let's go football, it's time to draw attention to the tricks.”
The truth is that, with his style, Diego Simeone led Atletico Madrid to the Champions League quarterfinals and left Manchester United on the road. His detractors in England will now have a revenge, because in this new instance, it will be the City of Guardiola that will clash with the Colchonero.
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