The French striker joined Atletico Madrid in the summer from Sevilla for €32 million, but he has been struggling to fit into Diego Simeone’s system
Atletico Madrid desperately looked to add a world-class striker in the summer, as Diego Simeone’s 4-4-2 system requires a true number nine to partner with Antoine Griezmann up front. After Jackson Martinez and Luciano Vietto did not live up to their expectations last season, they had to rely hugely on aging Fernando Torres and a very young Angel Correa.
While Gameiro wasn’t the first choice for Atletico Madrid, and Simeone made sure he knows that he was the only safe buy in the market. The Frenchman has spent three seasons in La Liga and netted 39 times in 92 league appearances, before joining Rojiblancos in August.
However, Gameiro thrived in Unai Emery’s 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 systems during his time in Sevilla. In those particular systems, he acted as a false nine who used his pace and awareness to find space between defenders. He was not exactly a great finisher but his work rate, speed, and dropping back to retrieve the ball were his best assets.
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Now in Simeone’s 4-4-2 system, he is having a hard time partnering with his fellow countryman Antoine Griezmann up top. Not only those two share same nationality, but they also share similar height and playing style. This is not good news for Atletico Madrid, because Simeone’s system works best when Griezmann is playing behind a true number nine who can hold up the ball, create space for him, finish well in front of goal, and threaten opposition defense with a physical presence. Gameiro can’t actually do any of those well.
So when these two play together, they seem to get in each other’s way many times. They both want to do the same thing and therefore, the attack becomes very predictable. Their lack of physicality also means they’re not much of a threat in the air as well, which is supposed to be Atletico Madrid’s main strength.
Now, Diego Simeone wasn’t totally clueless of what type of striker he needed in the summer. He looked for a true world-class center forward and approached names like Diego Costa , Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain. However, Costa was not allowed to leave by Chelsea while the other two were too much of a gamble as they were priced way too high for the club to consider.
So in the end, Simeone settled for a “safe bet” by bringing in an experienced striker who knows La Liga well for a reasonable €32 million and hoped he can adjust.
Things didn’t exactly start out well for Gameiro in his first official match for Los Colchoneros against Alaves. He missed many clear-cut opportunities throughout 90 minutes and only scored because he was allowed to take the last-minute penalty.
He still only has one goal from open play in his seven appearances so far. And that goal actually came from his individual brilliance, not from him connecting well with his teammates.
In the big game against Barcelona, he started and failed to have any impact throughout the match and eventually was subbed off for Angel Correa, who would go on to score the important equalizer just a minute after he came on.
Due to his performances, or lack of performances rather, he was not included in the starting eleven against Bayern Munich. Torres started ahead of him and although he did miss a couple of great chances, he fitted in well in Simeone’s system and created enough space for Yannick Carrasco to run onto and shoot which led to the match winning goal. Gameiro came on at 72nd minute and again did not offer much other than his pace.
Atletico Madrid were so close to winning both Champions League and La Liga last season. In fact, many experts concluded that they were one world-class striker away from winning a double. Which is why adding a world-class striker this summer was a number one priority for the club. In summer of 2015, they brought in Jackson Martinez for a hefty fee of €35 million and he turned out to be a huge flop. They will be crossing their fingers for Gameiro to not end up in the same path, especially now that transfer ban is coming along their way