Atletico Madrid are ‘missing an out-and-out striker’, says Terry Gibso

Atletico Madrid are „missing an out-and-out centre forward“ which is a role Diego Costa would fit perfectly, says Terry Gibson.

There is an ongoing transfer saga surrounding the current Chelsea striker, who says he wants to return to the La Liga club where he spent four years between 2010 and 2014.

After battling to a 2-2 draw against newly-promoted Girona on Saturday, Gibson believes that there is plenty of room for improvement for Atleti and they need some reinforcements in attack.
„I still think they are missing an out-and-out centre-forward that allows them to get up the pitch from deep defensive positions at times and to run the channels,“ he told the La Liga Weekly podcast.

„The man we all know about [Costa] fits the bill perfectly. Whether or not that happens I don’t know, but they’ve spent all that money trying to replace him when he left in the first place.
„It’s tough on Fernando Torres. He’s 33 now and he was totally isolated from the rest of his team on Saturday. They were all so deep in the first half, when the ball was launched forward to him, the three man central defence of Girona were able to deal with it comfortably. It would have been easy to be critical of Torres but he wasn’t getting any service.

„They had Mario Mandzukic and Jackson Martinez in the past but it’s clear in the way that Diego Simeone likes to operate, you do need that big, aggressive centre-forward with pace, who can run the channels and then allow the midfielders and full-backs to push forward.
„We don’t see the full-backs getting forward for Atletico now in the manner that they did when they had that successful period. There is massive room for improvement from Atletico Madrid.“

It was a drama-filled match for Simeone’s side at the Estadi Montilivi at the weekend, with former Middlesbrough striker Christian Stuani giving Girona a 2-0 first-half lead before Antonie Griezmann was sent off in the 67th minute.
But goals from Angel Correa and Jose Gimenez snatched a point for the visitors and Gibson has questioned why they did not go for the big win from the start of the match.

„Atletico Madrid with the stature that they have and the quality of player that they have, they should have gone and dominated and bosses that game from the first minute,“ the Sky Sports Spanish football expert added.

„It goes back to what I have been saying for a while now about Simeone. I am beginning to consider that now his team are no longer underdogs – it was OK when they were underdogs to be negative, solid and hard to beat and break down – but they have changed from being underdogs.
„The amount of money they’ve invested on fantastic players, I think they need to be more expansive. The proof was there in the second half when Griezmann was sent off and they were still 2-0 down. Simeone threw all caution to the wind and all of his attacking players onto the field. There was no system, they got the two goals and at one point, you thought they could go on and get all three points.

„On one hand, there was remarkable spirit shown by Atletico in the second half but why wait until they are behind? We like having a third big team in the league and I’m hoping – although I’m not that hopeful – that the scare at the weekend in the first half will help them.“Euro Soccer Bonus

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