Atlético Madrid: the best version of João Félix is still waiting
The Portuguese is pure talent and technically Atlético’s best player, but he is still not decisive.
Life goes on while Atlético fans are still waiting for João Félix. No one can deny that the Portuguese is pure talent, he is a different player, he has magic in his feet and technically he is the best player at Atlético de Madrid. He is. But no one can deny that João began to become a symbol of the “gap” that fell short of expectations, that he became a future Ballon d’Or promise who remains a lasting promise and a player who offers flashes. genius but no consistency.
Confirmation time?
Most specialist reviews point to Diego Pablo Simeone as the main culprit behind João Félix’s inability to blow his mind. It is said that El Cholo hid his qualities and accentuated his faults, that he took him away from the surface, that he did not give him confidence, that he did not find the right place for him and that he did not give him as many balls as Peter Pan wanted from Viseu. The problem is that João, despite Simeone’s system problems, beyond good and bad periods, ups and downs, seems to have once again stagnated.
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El Cholo gave him team keys in the first half of a superb season that saw him win La Liga in a pandemic year. After that, injured and back to square one. This season, Simeone gave him the team key from the first match and João responded with three assists and a huge catalog of “PlayStation” style technical moves. Then, game after game and for no apparent reason, Félix’s talent pool dried up again. Bad news for Simeone, bad news for João and even worse for Atlético.
Atlético Madrid losing patience?
After four long years at the club, one has the impression with João Félix that, despite his undeniable talent, there is always the same story repeating itself: he threatens to explode, he displays some of the genius traits of a world-class player and small player. little by little, it disappeared, until it was cursed to return to square one. There is class, there is a lack of order. The problem is that Atleti need him as much as they need to eat and the boy, even as he tries, is not a player capable of giving the team the leap of quality that, outside of pure class, he has to give it to him. Some loathe Simeone, believing his obligation is to get the best out of players. There are also those who begin to wonder if João will one day be able to sustain the emotional challenge of overcoming a system that is not in his favor and a context that is not in his favor, to make it clear that the best always prove themselves. , whatever the situation and environment.
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The fact is that time is a stubborn judge who gives and takes away excuses. The fact is that Atleti fans have been waiting for four years for a “loophole” that has not yet been breached despite everything its class suggests. The story goes, the club’s demands oblige him not to wait for anyone, whatever his name. And the long, hot summer showed that if João didn’t blow up the rest of the season, the club would stop giving him the untouchable status he still has. If things continue like this and if a very large offer arrives over the summer – more than 60 million euros of his transfer fee is accrued – the club will not be able to close the door on a move. The season has just started, Atlético is walking a tightrope and the fans are still waiting for the very best João Félix.
A few hours ago, this writer who was 46 years old but still has the character of a 1986 sticker collector boy, saw the sticker album for the next World Cup. And when he entered the Portugal national team, he found that João’s sticker was missing. That he doesn’t appear in the collection, because he has Diogo Jota and Gonçalo Guedes ahead of him. For some people, that means nothing. For others, it means everything. Meanwhile, Atletico are still waiting. It’s been four years now. The theory confirms that João Félix is Atleti’s best player. From afar. Practice invites the Portuguese to prove it and assume so. Easy said, hard to do. Some say João will never be successful with Simeone. Others think that Felix would never have made it if he hadn’t made it with Cholo. Soil never lies.
