Ten years ago, Atletico Madrid took a gamble to appoint a former player as head coach. It was an unstable time for Atletico fans, who went through five managers over a three-year period and witnessed Aguero and De Gea heading to the Premier League.
This forced the club to "take a risk", and they appointed former captain Simeone as manager, before which the Argentine had only a brief coaching experience in the Italian small side Catania.
From those hopeless beginnings, Simeone quickly assembled a competitive team. As a player, Simeone was a tenacious defensive player who instilled the same competition in the team that players had to be brutal and win at all costs.
Like simeone's style as a player, he set his primary goal on building the defensive line. The team came on loan with Courtois to sign Godin, and Simeone's side did not concede a single goal in their first six games.
In his first season in charge, Simeone led the team to the Europa League, and a year later they beat their city rivals to lift the Copa del Rey. Subsequently, Atletico got better and better, winning their first La Liga title since 1996. Last time, Simeone was the main player in the team.
Since then, Atletico has been in the competition for the championship. Under his rule, Atletico reached the Champions League final twice, with the team in the top three in La Liga almost every year. This performance was built on a rock-solid defensive basis and continued Simeone's style after Oblak became the world's top goalkeeper.
This continued success has been seen off the pitch, with Atletico leaving the dilapidated Calderon Stadium and moving to the shiny Wanda Metropolitano.
The club's budget has also been upgraded, most notably the signing of Portugal rising star Felix for £113 million in 2019, the fourth highest transfer fee in football history.
Atletico's success on and off the pitch was all due to Simeone's unprecedented success, but as Atletico gradually became a success, Simeone seemed a bit outdated. He was obsessed with planning ahead, always thinking of himself as a weak person, and endlessly repeating his mantra.
In Simeone's game, there was always the pain of "we have to fight the whole world". But in the world's most luxurious new stadium, the stadium is crowded with superstars, and the two are full of contradictions and contradictions.
Simeone is trying to keep up with the team's current position by adjusting the way he plays, and he is working to build an offensive team, more in possession, changing the one-to-zero doctrine. But at the moment it doesn't seem to work, and the tweaked style of play looks confused as Simeone can't completely get rid of his old defensive habits, which makes the team look out of tune.
This season, Atletico have underperformed, with a marked disconnect in attack and a signature defence gone. After losing to Sevilla in the 18th round, Atletico suffered their first three-game losing streak in the Simeone era. As Simone entered his second decade, the direction of past success was fraught with question marks.
Simeone's success has transformed Atletico into a bigger club, and now he has to bear the "consequences" of this. (Supine Braces/zz)