FANS want legendary boss Diego Simeone sacked after Atletico Madrid’s Champions League embarrassment.
Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Porto meant Atletico finished bottom of their group and don’t even make the Europa League.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano even reckons the Spaniards will “soon” release a statement ending the Argentinian’s 11-year reign, with Jorge D’Alessandro tipped to replace him.
Simeone, the world’s highest-paid manager, has won both LaLiga and the Europa League twice in taking Atletico out of the shadows of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
But this season’s Champions League calamity KO’s them from Europe before Christmas for the first time since he took over.
One fan tweeted: “Atletico Madrid & Diego Simeone need to divorce. They both need fresh air.”
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Another demanded he be “sacked with immediate effect. His tactics seem archaic!”
A third stated: “Diego Simeone is the highest paid manager in the world. Big disgrace.”
Atletico are third in laLiga, well adrift of Barca and Real.
And one common view on social media is that Simeone should bow out before his reputation is further tainted.
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This post summed up that verdict: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. This might be the right time for Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid to part ways.”
Simeone’s decade of success has been forged on robustly snuffing out the opposition.
And one observer posted: “Someone said Diego Simeone is a worldie coach. I never liked his style. Kills good players.”
But a few fans defended his record, especially compared to clubs with larger playing budgets.
Such comments included: “Atletico Madrid have failed Diego Simeone. Forget all the tactical nonsense, they’ve consistently sold his best players over his tenure. Imagine the team they could have.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
