Atletico’s early season struggles have already seen manager Abel Resino sacked and replaced by former Getafe, Valencia and Benfica boss Quique Sanchez Flores.
Quique took over in late October and while the results have improved slightly, the worries still remain.
But Quique insists Atletico fans have nothing to fear and believes this side can turn it right around, stating upon his appointment on October 23; “I believe in this club and the aim is to see to it that moral returns.
“Atletico must qualify for the Champions League by the end of the season.”
It was an ambitious statement from the new boss of a team languishing down the wrong end of the table with only the one league win to that point.
Make no mistake, this is a side struggling all over the pitch despite enjoying the services of several big names.
And we shouldn’t forget this is the team which has qualified for the UEFA Champions League in the last two seasons – no easy feat in Spain. There’s no doubt there is quality at the Vicente Calderon.
Historically, though, Atletico have struggled defensively and this season has been no different, conceding a league high 22 goals to this point.
The late transfer window sale of Dutch defender Johnny Heitinga certainly hasn’t helped.
But one of the players battling this term is young goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo, who joined Atletico from Valladolid in the summer in the wake of Leo Franco’s departure.
And Asenjo recently admitted, “We started badly and we are not our expected level, me and the whole team.
“Quique has tied up loose ends and the team is better. We can not afford to make the same mistakes because we lose points day after day. We have to move forward.
“We hope to overcome this slump. In this new stage with Quique we are better and we will give our best. We will have to work hard to get out of this situation.”
Since Quique officially took over Atletico defeated lower league Marbella in the Copa del Rey 8-0 on aggregate over two legs, whilst drawing 2-2 with Chelsea in the Champions League at home, although they have lost consecutive La Liga matches to Athletic Bilbao and rivals Real Madrid.
The results haven’t been overwhelming since his arrival, but he insists there have been good signs.
“The players are doing interesting things, we have found the path which will lead us to solutions and there are good intentions amongst the players. They are able to listen and do things right,” Quique said.
Quique’s chief goal will be to organise that leaky-defence which seem to be making far too many basic errors.
If he can get that right there’s no doubt this side has the quality down the other end of the park, with Argentina’s Sergio Aguero and Uruguay’s Diego Forlan up front.
Forlan, who topped the European charts last term with 32 La Liga goals, this week re-signed with the club until 2013 and that is a welcome boost for Los Colchoneros.
And the Uruguayan remains confident Atletico can get back on track, saying; ‘‘The club and my team-mates and I will do everything possible to win everything possible, although now the most important thing is to get out of the situation that we are in.
“Soon we will be in the places where we should be.
I’m confident that the improvement will bring good results. Nobody should doubt that we (the players) are the first people who want to turn this situation around.
