The Beginning of the End for Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid? Plus, Barcelona's Smoking Goalkeeper: European Nights 10/21/25

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers media network, Suboptimal Radio. What's your position exactly? Because we're saying everywhere. Yeah, today was more midfield, I'd say. Probably 6, 8 and 10. But I enjoy it. I enjoy a different side of my game. I know everyone's used to me being up top and scoring goals, but I feel like I can contribute a lot more. Are you ready for some football?

0:52How are you doing, Rog? I am in awe of Harry Kane in the 2-1 der Klassiker this weekend against Borussia Dortmund. He said he played as a 6, an 8 and as a 10. He also, you know, did the thing where he scores the goals. He's actually got 12 in seven Bundesliga games, threw in the six goals in cup competitions. I mean, these are Haaland numbers. These are Mbappe numbers. We talk about them all the time. But is Kane doing the playmaking thing from deep quietly, the most informed player in the world that we're not talking about as much as we should at the moment? Yeah, I think you can make that case.

1:29And I wonder, I wonder why that is. You know me, Roger, I'm always interested by, by weird things happening for no apparent reason. It might partly be his age. I think he's not, he's not in the prime of his career anymore or what we traditionally think of as being the prime of his career. We're used to Harry Kane scoring lots and lots and lots of goals. He's done it throughout his career. we have normalized it, Rog. And I think that means that maybe sometimes we take it for granted a little bit, just how good he is. But, you know, he was the quickest player in the history of the top five leads to reach 100 goals.

2:01His numbers at Bayern have been incredible. He says himself that he's improved as a player under Vincent Kompany's tutelage. The fact that he's still working, still improving, still aiming for all these things where he would maybe have a right to be starting to think about the autumn of his career. Speaks volumes for his professionalism, for his dedication and for his talent. Best one season wonder of all time, I think we can all agree. But like Kane on the pitch, Bayern, welcome Club Rouge. 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. We will be all over this match day, a match day that includes Diego Simeone, El Cholo.

2:38Gentoo hasn't changed wardrobe in over 13 years and counting at Atletico Madrid, but is currently overseeing a drastic star shift on the pitch, dot, dot, dot. They face Arsenal in London today, 3pm Eastern. Also talk about the next Frankfurt superstar team. He'll undoubtedly make them tens of millions when he's sold imminently, presumably after he, soccer gods willing, scores a banger against Liverpool Wednesday, 3pm Eastern time. Barcelona, they pulled all the levers they could find, but their season still hinges on an admitted smoker who a year ago was retired, working on his golf game in Marbella.

3:13So, like a retired goalkeeper with long-lost gigging him, let's go to the football.

3:38That is the sound of one of the most important goals in La Liga history. But it's not an El Clasico equaliser or a Lionel Messi magic wonder goal. It's not even from a La Liga game. It's Victor Curto's opening minute strike in the third tier for Albacete. Balompi's 1-0 upset win over Atletico Madrid in the fourth round of the 2011 Copa del Rey. Stay with me here because I know you remember it like I do as if it was yesterday, right? that goal would unseat then-Atletico manager Gregorio Manzano, who was fired the very next day, into replacing with Step and Argentine, with middling managerial success in his career at that point, but a penchant for dressing like Johnny Cash.

4:24He'd also go on to become the longest tenured coach in Spanish history, Juan Diego Simeone. And it's easy to forget that when Diego took over at Atletico Madrid, Club was really mid-table chum, never reached higher than fourth in La Liga in a decade prior to Simeone's arrival, and only nine years removed from spending two seasons in the Spanish second tier. Club itself was known for chaos, for instability, plagued by shady business practices in the boardroom, impregnable debt, and a hair-finger trigger for, you know, firing the managers.

5:04forests. At the time, Simeone himself was seen as a mercenary manager, hung up his boots as a fiery, grinding midfielder, hopped around clubs in his native Argentina before crossing the Atlantic January 2011, took on a caretaker job at Serie A bottom feeders Catania before heading back to South America, brief stint at Racing after the Italian season's conclusion, meaning that when When Simeone was announced at Atletico December 2011, it was the third club he'd managed in the calendar year. How do you like them apples, Neil Warnock? And we know you're listening. But Rory, who was Diego Simeone when he took over Atletico?

5:45How was he seen? And what type of Atletico team did he inherit? I think the crucial thing from the point of view of Atletico was that he was a former player. He was someone who'd been part of Atletico's last great team. He was the central midfielder, the sort of dynamic, provocative central midfielder in the team that won the title in the mid-1990s, led by a kind of legendary striker called Kiko Narvaez. And I think that stood him in good stead with Atletico's fans, because as you say, his managerial credentials weren't really amazing, to be honest. He'd kind of been doing these relatively minor jobs fairly unspectacularly, didn't seem particularly well qualified for Atletico, a club of that stature or that potential.

6:26But because he had that bond with the fans, because he seemed to kind of get the club, and particularly because his playing style, which was, and this is the famous Simeone quote, the one he will never outrun, that he played football with a knife between his teeth. They understood that. They understood the sort of player that Simeone was, the sort of character he was. So even though he walked in without particularly kind of glittering managerial CV behind him, they felt that he was one of their own. And that league Simeone entered back then was one of dueling superpowers. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Messi versus Ronaldo.

7:02His managerial counterparts of those two clubs in that moment, it was Jose Mourinho, it was Pep Guardiola. He was just a minnow swimming amongst great white sharks. But Simeone's impact was felt immediately with white hot burning heat. That same team that lost to a third division side just months earlier charged their way straight to fifth place finish. incredibly Europa League trophy in Simeone's very first season in charge. Atletico have beaten their Spanish Liga rivals. They are UEFA Europa League winners once again, inspired by Falcao in his debut season at the club. But that wouldn't be all.

7:39Two seasons later, Simeone's squad would do the unthinkable. They'd unseat both Messi and Ronaldo at the height of their powers, scraping out a draw against none other than Barcelona on the final day of the season to hoist. the 2014 La Liga trophy, to the shock and awe, if not only of their own adoring fans, pretty much the rest of the world.

8:08Players cried on the field, fans hugged in the stands, but the Simeone ethos might best be described by his own response to that 2014 title, of which he said, In football, it's impossible to really stop and think and enjoy it, because while you're sleeping, someone else is working. So the grind set continued. Champions League finals appearances in 2014 and 2016, albeit two heartbreaking, shattering losses, two crosstown rivals, Real Madrid. They placed Simeone's Atletico as genuine juggernauts on the European stage. Add to that another Europa League win in 2018, a second La Liga title in 2021.

8:51Simeone has vaulted into living legend status. Rory, how did he do it? What was the trick? How did he take this mid-table team, fodder really, turn them into a genuine rival of two of the most dominant football clubs at the peak of their powers that the world's ever seen? I was at that game where they won the title at Camp Nou in 2014. It was genuinely enthralling to watch them shut Barcelona down to the extent that this team that were kind of a juggernaut, even then, obviously, Pep had left by that stage, but they still had Messi. They still had all these wonderful players. They still had this era-defining style.

9:27And Simeone just went, nope, we're not interested in that. You will not be able to do that against us. And they ground Barcelona down. They took a one-all draw. They claimed the title. And my abiding memory of that is that no one in Barcelona really begrudged them it. There was disappointment, obviously, that they'd been beaten to it. but there was a sense of this team are an incredible kind of feat of management effectively because what Simeone did was imbue that side with a fighting spirit and a grit and a grizzle and an organizational level that he had as a player and suddenly you sort of saw it borne out in 11 individuals on the pitch but a squad of 18 20 players who were all kind of little Simeone Warriors, not all that little actually, but they were kind of the sons of Simeone.

10:15And in those games against the elite of La Liga, they scrapped and clawed for everything. They used every trick under the sun against the lesser lights of Spanish domestic football. They were able to kind of impose themselves. They had enough individual talent that they could win those games as well. And he found, especially in that first wave at Atletico, he found this incredible balance where they could live up to their kind of ambition, I think, their aspiration, the institutional aspiration to be a really big club. That's how Atletico Madrid see themselves, as a genuine kind of force in Spanish football, in European football.

10:52They don't feel that they have anything to fear from the cocky jocks at Real Madrid and Barcelona. But written into the club's DNA is the idea of being underdogs. And Simeone found a way of allowing them to be both. and I think that was what was really clever. Against equivalence to Albacete, they would happily swap them aside 4-0 and play really nice, attractive football. Against Real Madrid or Barcelona or the other elite teams in Europe, they'd be plucky little Atletico Madrid who could dig in and fight and wouldn't let you have anything. And it was incredible to watch Simeone manage to basically produce a team that had those two identities and believed in them both.

11:33Absolutely. And it was no one-off because this December will mark the 14-year anniversary of Simeone's appointment at Atletico Madrid. A 10 years so long, I actually still had hair when it began. Picture that, listeners. No, stop picturing that, listeners. But for all of his success, the gritty football, this trench warfare style that brought Simeone so much, almost alchemic success has started, like all good things, to begin to fray at the seams. The cost of Simeone's success has been, well, first, that of expectations. Those expectations have weighed so heavily both on the club and on Simeone himself.

12:10The team hasn't, I think you'd say, meaningfully competed for the title since the 2021 La Liga trophy. Last season saw the club top of the table at Christmas before they crashed down to earth a distant third by season's end. This campaign will mark a decade since their last Champions League final appearance. We're judging them by their own high standards. Simeone said recently quote when I came I was happy when we won today winning is a relief this is a man who spits out life truths and like life itself it's not always easy to stomach to rectify their recent results Atletico have well spent heavily over 400 million dollars past two summers alone with a particular penchant for attacking players like Argentine whiz bucket Julian Alvarez silky Spanish playmaker Alex Baina and Scandinavian juggernaut Alexander Solloff.

13:04But the disconnect between these style of signings and Simeone's patented grit and grime style is so clear to everyone. Even Simeone himself, who said again, quote, the team was ahead of the club. Now the club is ahead of the team. Rory, how would you describe the style Simeone's attempting to implement now? And is it his decision to do so, or is his hand being forced by the board, the ownership, by fans, by the incessant evolution of football? Remember, while you're sleeping, someone else is working. It's difficult for Atletico, I think, to be the kind of the plucky underdog that they want to be, that they take pride in being, when they are very clearly the third biggest team in Spain.

13:50that the basic expectation now is not necessarily that they should win La Liga, but that they should be in the race for it. When you have a club that is, I think, to an extent, speculating to accumulate is probably the wrong way of putting it, but is spending money in an attempt, I think, to prove that they are in the same broad ecosystem as Real Madrid and Barcelona. They don't want to lose too much ground to those two teams, which means you are going out and buying players of high quality, high caliber, high expectation. They have in the last two summers, I think Gross, spent more than any other team in Spain.

14:26They are committing a lot of money into that squad. And the expectation, I think, is both that the style should change and modernize, but also that the results should come. So Atletico, yeah, maybe they don't need to win La Liga to keep Simeone from being under pressure, but they need to be quite close and they need to be competing in the Champions League. They need to be reaching semifinals, quarterfinals, and looking like they might be able to stand toe-to-toe, not just with Real and Barca, but with Bayern Munich, with the big teams from the Premier League, with PSG. And I think Simeone has struggled with that because ever since the last title win, which was during COVID...

15:00Asterisk. Asterisk, sort of. Tell Diego Simeone he doesn't care. They have kind of been a little bit of a team without an identity, I think. and that's the risk, is that in taking a club that was so defined by Simeone, that was cast so obviously in his image and trying to change it, the risk is always you end up kind of being something and nothing, I think. And there have been times in the last few years when Atletico have felt like that, that they're not good enough to be Barca or Real, but they're also not gritty enough to have the edge of being their opposite. God, you know what? I would love to interview Diego Simeone, pretty well more than anybody in football.

15:43But as we pod, Atletico sit fourth in the table, eight points back of league leaders Real. Simeone has admitted to feeling, quote, anxiety about the club's position. Perhaps more than that, age is catching up with the heart and lungs of his squad. The core of it, players like Koke and Antoine Griezmann, who will no doubt be off to greener pastures in the not so distant future. greener pastures where the NBA is played very close to each other stadium he lays in. It's all left Simeone's own future filled with, but really more questions than answers. And no matter what, the vision of a man in a trim old black suit, prowling and growling on the Atletico touchline, animalistic in his howls, in his competitiveness, is one that we burnt into the memory of football fans forever.

16:31But big picture, Roy, is it possible for Simeone to recapture the magic of those Atletico glories? Can a man like him change, master a new system? Are we seeing the creaking beginning of the end for Simeone at Atletico Madrid? Does he reach the kind of status where ultimately the decision will publicly and optically always be at least his? Has he earned that? So a lot of people would probably tell you that young players are soft. That's the kind of abiding belief in football now. I mean, it's not Generation Alpha, is it? Is it still Gen Z? Is that what they are? They are Gen Z. I think they're Xennials.

17:08Xennials. I was on a call today where they were talking about Xennials and I just nodded. I didn't know what it was. They might be Zoomers. But anyway, whatever they're called, he's in Paw Patrol, Zoomer. Respect. That's how old my kids are. Respect. Thank you for your service. A lot of people in football, a lot of coaches believe that you can't be the old kind of grizzled warrior with players anymore because they're soft and they're young and they've got emotions and they're aware of mental health and there's HR in place. Everyone's quite cross about that. Players of an older generation, managers, feel that everything's gone a bit too woke, effectively, within football.

17:45I don't think that's true. I think what's happened to Simeone in particular, he's quite a good example of it, is that his methods were at their best when he had something to rage against. and he could take his players on that journey with him. He had this crop of kind of Uruguayan hard men, or in the case of Antoine Griezmann, like people who wanted to be Uruguayan hard men, but were French and very pretty. But they wanted deep down in their souls, they were like this mustachioed Uruguayan warrior from 1986. And Simeone could take them and say, we're going to stick it to the man. We're going to fight the power.

18:23We're going to do all this stuff because we're Atletico Madrid and everybody hates us. We don't care. We're going to stand up to them. I think when you're signing Julian Alvarez or Alex Baena, you can't make that pitch to them because the pitch that you're making is come to us. We're playing in the Champions League. We're a massive club. We can pay you lots of money. We can fulfill your dreams and your ambitions. We're going to make you run around a lot because it's Diego Simeone. But, you know, this is a place where you will play first team football, which you weren't doing at Manchester City, but you can still compete in the biggest games on the biggest stages.

18:53There's no rage in that pitch. I think that the tension at Atletico for a while now has been that the club needs to be wanting for Simeone to be at his absolute best. But the players are going because the club is something else. And I don't quite know how you square that circle. Simeone's done a really good job of keeping Atletico sort of vaguely competitive. You know, they're still in the Champions League. They smashed Real Madrid earlier this season. They have these moments where you think, OK, something is bubbling here. but I don't know whether they have that same defining purpose in their mission.

19:29And I'm a really big believer, Roger, maybe it's me being either a romantic or someone who believes too much in the power of narrative and story. But I think you need to have a defining purpose in football. I think that's what sends you over the top. You need to stand for something. For a long, long time, it was really obvious what Atletico stood for. They stood for not being Real Madrid, and that was enough. I don't know what it is now because they're too close to the powerful to pretend to be the outsiders. Atletico will no doubt be blasting the rage against the machine as they try and recapture or take the power back in their Champions League group stage matchup against Arsenal today, 3pm Eastern time at the Emirates.

20:11Raw, tell us, spoiler alert, who wins this one? Well, if you like corners, then I suspect this is one for you. It is an interesting game, this, because Atleti are defensively very good, instinctively, because it's Simeone. And I think Arsenal will find it hard to break them down. So as much as I think Arsenal are my favourites for the Champions League this season, I am going to say that this one is a one-all draw. Fight the power. We have the tech team here at the Men and Blazers Media Network, busily building a bot which will place bets against whatever Rory and I predict. It'll make us a fortune.

20:47but in a seamless segue. There's no way I'm betting against the football manager. 20-26, one to watch. Eintracht Frankfurt effortlessly produces sizzling, scintillating young talent, almost like a footballing hydra. Buy one for$95 million. They just sprout three more. Next to emerge, after Hugo Eketike, Omar Marmoush, Randall Kolemoane. It's growler-sized Turkish playmaker, Can Uzun still has a month left in his teens. Oh, that bastard. Already five goals and three assists in the Bundesliga, nearly all of them. Bangers. Roar, is this Frankfurt's next eight-digit transfer fee? How much will this price go up after we see him play against Liverpool on Wednesday?

21:30Playing against Liverpool at the moment, very much a good way to improve your transfer value, Rog. Liverpool aren't doing everybody a service. Very kind club, making other people look good. Yeah, Frankfurt, like a lot of teams in the Bundesliga, are privy to the most powerful secret in football, which is there are always more footballers and they found in Chanazun another good one. They're a team that have had an uneven start to the Champions League. They beat Galatasaray scoring five goals then immediately went and conceded five goals to Atletico Madrid. So I'd expect there to be goals and expect it to be chaotic.

22:02I think it will be quite Bundesliga-y to be honest, which means it will be exciting and that's the sort of game that Chanazun seems to thrive in at the moment. So it's a good time for him to play Liverpool, a good time for Frankfurt to play Liverpool, probably quite a good time to watch Frankfurt play Liverpool what kind of football are you going to play? Bundesliga is he? it's a real word kids look it up and Football Manager 2026 launches across platforms from November the 4th one week before Uzun's 20th birthday will you sign him in Football Manager 26? let us know from the game's next big star after this break we'll return with the story of a smoking Polish man in his mid-30s who may be the key to Barcelona's season.

22:46I crept you not back after this.

22:52Did I pronounce your name correctly? You've tried hard enough. I know you go by Tech, so is it okay we call you Tech? Tech is perfect, yes. That is the sound of Barcelona's own in-house club channel, trying and not quite succeeding to pronounce what French paper they keep player ratings once called football's most unpronounceable name. Fans started calling him Tech at his last club, Juventus, where they misspelt his name on his very first jersey. Well done, lads. He goes by Chesney, like the country singer in England, where the gent himself admits he himself pronounces his own name differently than he should because no one can say it properly anyway from his days there as an Arsenal youngster onwards.

23:35But Wojtek Chesney will be the name on Barcelona's fans' lips with their season largely hinging on the meditating, chain-smoking pole, who, you know, retired for more football a little over a year ago. Back in August 2024, Chesney announced his retirement on Instagram. After 18 years, his heart apparently was not in it anymore, he explained. He moved to the south of Spain, to Marbella, to golf, to enjoy his well-earned retirement. Enjoy life, they say. Then, in September, if you've seen the movie Sexy Beast, I imagine it went down very much like that. Barcelona captain Marc-Andre Ter Stegen busted his knee.

24:15First call came from Polish international teammate Robert Lewandowski. Would he consider coming back? I'd love it if Lewandowski, like in Sexy Beast, went to his house and started urinating on his carpet. But if you've not seen the movie, that makes no sense. So we'll get back to Chesney. He said that he watched this Barcelona play with his couch in Morbea, knowing he could have played a part. he'd never forgive himself. God, that is a mad psychological manipulating move. So out came the gloves, the giant gloves from storage. Took a little bit to shake off the rust. Analysts pointed out he'd never played the sweeper keeper behind a high line before.

24:53He was actually sent off in his third game. A Clasico against Real Madrid in a Supercopper final. Not so super. He clattered into his own defender, conceded a goal, also gave up a penalty in a narrow, frantic 5-4 win. over Benfica a little later. It sounds a little bit Bundesliga-y, really, doesn't it? Quote, all of this is a new challenge for me because I was already retired. I don't feel the youngest, nor do I, Chas. But in his first 22 games, crucial thing happened. Well, didn't happen. He didn't lose. And by the end of the year, his form had rounded into one of the steadiest goalkeepers in Spain, Barcelona, and won the league and the Copa del Rey that season.