In the 23rd round of La Liga, Atletico lost 2-4 to Barca. Looking back at the game, Atletico Madrid centre-back Hermoso, who played as a left-back, was still hot: not only was the defensive end blown up by Barca's new signing Traore, but also became Atletico's attacking finisher. Seeing this, La Liga fans have sighed: Zidane is still accurate, refusing to reuse Hermoso when he is in charge of Real Madrid twice, and has now become Atletico's number one waste wood. Simeone continued to reuse him, and la Liga was out of the game.
It all started five years ago. Hermoso, who debuted in Real Madrid's youth coach Castilla, was originally a full-back. Under the transformation of then-manager Solari, he tried to transform the center-back. Excellent physical fitness and skillful foot skills have earned Hermoso the title of Real Madrid's new Ramos. Coupled with the fact that he was a scarce left-footed centre-back for Real Madrid, it was widely believed that first-team manager Zidane would reuse Hermoso.
Unfortunately, zidane did not promote Hermoso to the Real Madrid team. Seeing that he was not welcome by Zidane, Hermoso switched to Espanyol a year later. It is worth mentioning that the Real Madrid management, which is worried about the brain drain, deliberately set a buyback clause of 7.5 million euros in his contract. Not to mention, Hermoso, who switched to Espanyol, soon became the main player in the team. In addition to his excellent defensive ability, his backcourt shots and long passes have also impressed La Liga fans. Watching their own abandonment shine in La Liga, Real Madrid fans have called for the buyback of Hermoso. Coincidentally, Hermoso also expressed his willingness to return to Real Madrid in an interview.
However, Zidane, who returned to Real Madrid at the time, was unmoved. In order to strengthen the defensive line, he recommended real Madrid to sign Brazilian center-back Militan for 50 million euros. Seeing that Zidane still ignored him, Hermoso, eager to play in the Champions League, chose to join Atletico. It is reported that in order to get the popular Spain international, Atletico bid 30 million euros. With the official announcement of the transaction, Real Madrid fans are very puzzled: Hermoso, who has 7.5 million, does not buy back, but has to buy a 50 million?
In hindsight, Zidane's vision was very accurate. Although Militão had a bad start with Real Madrid, he has now grown rapidly to become an absolute mainstay in the team. Especially in the case of ramos and Varane's departure from the team in the summer window last year, the increasingly stable Militao has become the core of Real Madrid's defense. On the other hand, Hermoso's development trajectory in Atletico's high and low is diametrically opposed to Militão's: he who performed well at the beginning of the franchise has now become a big waste in the mouth of Atletico fans, and he is still the kind that cannot be saved.
The best illustration of this is Atletico's la Liga match against Barcelona in this round. Considering that Hermoso was getting less and less confident in the centre-back position, manager Simeone placed him at left-back. Originally thought that Hermoso, who returned to his old line, could have a good performance, but he did not expect to be directly hit by Barca's new signing Traoré. Throughout the game, most of Barca's threatening attacks originated from this side of Hermoso's defense. Seeing this, left winger Carrasco had to retreat to assist in defense, which in turn paralyzed Atletico's left attack.
Seeing this, Simeone decided to switch to a three-centre-back, with Hermoso playing at left centre-back. Returning to the centre-back position, he pulled his crotch as always: staring at often leaking people and intercepting all rely on pulling. In the face of Barca's high-intensity pressing, even the best ball in the past did not work, and there were several consecutive backcourt pass errors. Because of this, Simeone replaced Hermoso in the 54th minute of the game. With this adjustment, Atletico's defence immediately became solid. Unfortunately, the offensive end was still weak, and in the end, Atletico, who played one more person, lost 2-4 to Barca.
According to statistics, Hermoso got a post-match rating of 5.6 and ranked first in the team. Such a dismal performance once again confirmed the title of Atletico's number one waste wood. I have to say that Simone looked away this time. Rao was desperate to give the opportunity and failed to activate Hermoso, but it made Atletico's La Liga competition more and more severe. As many La Liga fans said: Don't use the lock brother anymore, it is better to hit one less person.