This is not only the foundation and soul of his 442 revival tactics, but also becomes his DNA after coaching Atletico Madrid and a typical feature of Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid's tactics are flexible and changeable, and it can even be said that there seems to be no fixed way of playing, but the approach they take is extremely simple and practical.

At a time when the gorgeous passing and controlling style is popular in Europe, Simeone's coaching style is unique, with his own opinions and personality.

In Simeone's tactical thinking, he would rather let the players give up possession of the ball and let the team play ugly, but he must maintain the team's overall defensiveness, and then focus on counterattacks and play with the purpose of winning - losing beautifully or winning ugly, Simeone never hesitates on such issues.

This simple and efficient style that does not care about whether the game is beautiful or not makes opponents in La Liga and even Europe very uncomfortable. Therefore, although Atletico Madrid's formation is the old-fashioned 442, it can still make the La Liga giants lose their way.

Especially when playing against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid was like a chicken with its blood pumped up.

Both teams are from Madrid, one represents the royal aristocracy, the other represents the general public, one has a top-notch lineup, the other has an ordinary lineup, and both teams are equally pragmatic, so when the two teams compete, the scene is very intense, exciting and beautiful.

Around the world, the clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona is the most eye-catching, but in La Liga, in Madrid, the clash between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid is the most eye-catching.

In addition to his unique formation and tactics, Simeone is absolutely first-class in tapping the potential of players. He knows people and makes good use of them, just like a chef using ingredients to cook.

Before Simeone coached Atletico Madrid, Atletico's lineup was actually not bad. Many of the players were first-rate and second-rate players in La Liga, but it was definitely not good.

Before Simeone took over, Atletico Madrid was only in the middle of La Liga. It failed to qualify for the Champions League last year and only barely made it to the group stage of the Europa League after playing two qualifying rounds.

In this era, Atletico Madrid only has Diego Costa, Forlan, and Aguero as the famous stars.

Aguero was hailed as the successor of the football king Maradona at the time. Not only did he marry Maradona's daughter, he also became a close friend of Messi in the Argentina national team. Later, Aguero was kicked out of Atletico Madrid and transferred to Manchester City, which was not short of money, for a sky-high price, thus ushering in the era of the Blue Moon dominating the Premier League.

Aguero's rise is thanks to Simeone.

Before Simeone took over Atletico Madrid, neither the young Aguero nor the veteran star Diego Costa could enter the ranks of top stars. As soon as Simeone took over the Colchoneros and started Simeone's classic 442 formation, the abilities of these new and old stars were immediately released.

The previous passing and controlling styles of play, as well as other styles of play, were actually adding unnecessary pressure to the already not-so-luxurious team and increasing the team's internal friction. After the formation and playing style became simpler, the strength of these new and old stars were fully released and they all got the hang of it.

Especially in the midfield position, Simeone allowed players such as Koke, Turan, Gabi, Suarez and others to complete their transformation, and stars such as Thiago and Diego also found a second spring in their careers in Calderon.

Especially Diego Costa, who had already planned to retire, but was suddenly activated by Simeone.

Simeone's tactics, from a macro perspective, are not complicated at all.

How complicated can 442 be? This is the most classic position, nothing more than 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 forwards.

However, 442 and 442 are different, just like, the same person has a belly supported by two legs, but some people call them Bill Gates and some people call them Zhang San Li Si.

The team with the most obvious English football style is actually Ferguson's Manchester United.

Ferguson's Manchester United tactics are varied, often learning this and that, but in fact the core remains the same, that is, both wings fly together.

For both wings to fly together, it not only requires the wingers to have the ability to break through, but also the full-backs to have the ability to pass the ball. It also requires the two full-backs to have the ability to intersperse and support, and even launch attacks on both wings.

Simeone's 442 is not the 442 with long passes from both wings.

Simeone's 442, in terms of positioning configuration, moves the two wingers slightly closer to the midfield, the two central midfielders move back to serve as defensive midfielders, and the two full-backs also shrink towards the center.

Just from the perspective of positioning, Simeone's 442 attaches great importance to defense, and particularly to midfield defense.

When playing against Simeone's Atletico, you want to go wide? Sure, you can. You want to cross the ball, no way. You want to go straight to the middle, the diamond formation in the midfield will strangle you.

This is what makes Simeone's 442 special.

Compared to England's 442 with both wings flying together, Simeone's 442 is more inclined to the European style of play, focusing on details, coupled with his unique defensive ideas. This has made Simeone's 442 a 442 retro trend in European football for a long time.

However, the teams or coaches who learned Simeone's 442 have not been able to learn the essence of Simeone.

Their understanding of defense is not as thorough as Simeone's. They only play in a 442 formation on the surface, but in fact the players on the field still act independently, or pass the ball back and forth on the field for passing and controlling data.

Simeone's 442 integrates the characteristics of each of his players into his defensive formation, matching the formation with the characteristics of the players, and then fine-tuning the formation according to the characteristics of the players.

So, although Simeone's classic 442 may seem simple, it actually has many variations and details.

Simeone is a legendary player and can definitely be called a tactical master. His 442 is not replicable, because once a coach has his ability, there is no need to copy Simeone's 442 and he can create his own tactics.

In today's match, Atletico Madrid definitely has the advantage in terms of the historical reputation of the two teams.

In terms of coaching level, both coaches are pragmatic coaches and both pursue defensive counterattacks. However, to be honest, when it comes to defensive counterattacks, Coach Adkins' level is not even half of Coach Simeone's.

Coach Adkins was able to get to this point not because of his tactics, but because of Gu Ran.

...(End of this chapter)