The value of winning 1-0
“Well, lately I see that winning 1-0 is valued very much by other teams,” Diego Simeone grinned with the hearty warmth of irony, justification and a healthy helping of bemusement. That was after his side had just done so against Girona, Álvaro Morata bundling at the back post from a stoppage time corner for the winner. If last week’s demolition of Sevilla was disloyal to Cholismo as he became the manager to take charge of the most Atlético Madrid games, then this was much more appropriate response.
“And that makes me content no? Because winning 1-0 is not easy. It would seem that it is easy to defend. If you have to have a lot of concentration in order to defend yourself, many of these teams have improved enormously defensively.”
It is something that El Cholo can once again proudly say of Atleti too. Los Colchoneros have conceded just 5 goals in 11 La Liga games since the World Cup, and never more than once in a game. Victories, 7 of those, are much more attainable like that.
“Obviously the majority of us would like to be more effective, to have a greater margin in the results, but the concentration it requires of you when you are winning 1-0 is very high, it’s higher than when you are winning 2-0 or 3-0, and this has been repeated many times. I am happy that many of those that I hear, value the 1-0,” he finished, the pleasure of vindication returning to his features.
Memphis Depay could have beaten Girona 3-0 with just the chances he had in the first half against the Catalan side, and while it might hurt his own selection hopes for next week, he will be thanking Morata that sombre photos of him looking at the ground were not the background for the post-match analysis.
In that, this Atleti performance was a touch different to the 1-0 win that Simeone, and now apparently the rest of Spain values so much - the result was something of a misnomer. Los Rojiblancos did create plenty of chances against Girona, showing a clear continuation of the football on show the previous week.
Atlético now have 4 of those golden 1-0s in their last 7 matches. An encouraging sign is that while the three points against Celta Vigo looked like they were conceived by the Virgin Mary herself, victories over Osasuna, Athletic Club, and now Girona look increasingly sustainable.
Of course, Simeone’s response in the press conference was a thinly-veiled reference to the fact that the great guardians of stylish football, Barcelona, have now secured nine of their own precious 1-0s this season - and they’re delighted about it. Matt Clark and Román de Arquer referenced the fact that this season for Barcelona was much more akin to Cholismo than Guardiolisme.
It might have taken Barcelona to start winning with 33% possession at the Santiago Bernabéu for it to happen, but finally the press are on board with his methods. More pleasing in the long-term for Simeone will be that for the first time in what feels like an eternity, it looks as if his players are too.