Cholo Ball - Inside Simeone's mentality monsters of Madrid

The beauty of football is that it is like art. Art and artists have various forms, techniques, approaches to the game and everyone ends up developing an affinity to one camp or the another based on various parameters. While many adore the tiki taka and intricate passing style brought in by Cryuff and later maximized to the limit by Pep, others may find it boring, too methodical and controlling devoid of any individual brilliance and creativity. 

On the other hand there is a group of gegen-pressing all action and high intensity school of coaches like Klopp and Bielsa who in perfecting off the ball fundamentals as a team while also giving certain level of freedom to their players. The third type of coaches are those who are master of what the world of football has described as Dark Arts.

While this may not be as visually pleasing on the eye, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It honestly does not matter as the aura of Dark Arts just is something that is beyond science which is the polar opposite of overtly calculated and controlled Pep ball. Jose Mourinho, Sam Allardyce and Diego Simeone are some recent top flight managers that have been exponents of what is at times is described as Terror Ball by those who are not a big fan of this particular approach towards the game, the beautiful game which some argue is muddled by the dark arts.

But the fact that someone has managed to find a system where a team know when and how much to push just about enough buttons to psychologically break their opponents without facing the consequences of their action is in itself poetically beautiful in a way. Tactical fouls to disrupt rhythm of important attacks by the other team. This might seem like downright hooliganism for some with the constant shirt pulling, less than clean tackles, winding up players to purposefully make them lose their cool. However this requires a coach and the players at their disposal to have extreme psychological control, team spirit and the ability to make even the smallest of margins count does not matter if they are achieved through fair means or mean means.

Atletico Madrid under Diego had clinched the La Liga title almost a decade ago under the noses of financial and institutional giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid. Whereas they were slumming it out in the second tier not too long and to inspire a team of underdogs to win against all odds needs something more than just rainbows and sunshine. They have shown time and time again that to see their light at the end of the tunnel they are more than willing to make the footballing path for others darker whether they like it or not and have embraced it fully.

Diego Simeone is not at all the villain but the Anti-Hero we all would root for as a neutral. The guy when he was playing and now as a manager you always want in your team, never against you.

Cover Credits - 442oons