All quiet on the Atlético front... for now
Thursday 02 July 2009 08:00
La Liga Loca’s Atlético Madrid-loving acquaintances – the blog has no friends, friends make you weak – have been doing their very best to avoid the ongoing Galactico parties at the Bernabeu.
But the lack of activity at their own club has made this a tough task. Like the thousands of sleep-starved Madrileños, Rojiblanco supporters have been scowling and growling at the Florentino fiesta with pillows clamped to ears.
With the duelling duo of Enrique Cerezo and Miguel Angel Gil all with the Speedos on their holidays and unlikely to be sending each other postcards, the main news in Atleti’s wacky world has concerned a number of departures and the not-that-surprising arrival of the out-of-contract Juanito from Betis.
Midfielder Miguel de las Cuevas has moved to Sporting without anyone giving a flying fig, while goalkeepers Leo Franco and Gregory Coupet have done one on frees to Galatasaray and PSG respectively.
And with third-choice goalkeeper David De Gea wanting to bunk off to pastures new to get playing time under his gloves, the club are looking to accelerate the move for Spain’s U21 genius goalie, Sergio Asenjo, from Valladolid.
However, the Pucela side are a tad distracted and recovering from the news that former player and ex-sporting director José Luis Perez Caminero has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering.
The former Spain international is currently on bail – and holidaying at Eurodisney, apparently – but has a good fortnight to come up with an explanation to a judge as to why he was changing large amounts of lower denomination bank notes into 500 Euro notes.
A change is as good as arrest
Overall, the Vicente Calderón has been silent apart from the shuffles and scuffles from the constant crowd gathered around the tethered and barcoded figures of Diego Forlán and Kun Agüero, with one of the two set to leave this summer to help the club out of its latest financial fix.
Indeed, an ever-expanding pile of debt and the need to fund the construction of a new stadium has seen the club indulge in a bout of belt-tightening the likes of which Maniche can only dream of. And it’s for this reason that Atleti will not be indulging in its annual summer advertising campaign, which is always good for raising titters or gasps of shock.
Previous years have included the famous ‘year in hell’ campaign after Atleti’s relegation to the second division and a famous spot featuring a depressed child asking his equally sad-faced father why they support Atlético Madrid.
“It’s strange that a club that has forever been anchored to sad acts of amateurism on a sporting and institutional level, has been an example to follow in the world of sports marketing,” writes Iñaki Díaz-Guerra in AS, lamenting the absence of more advert action from the Rojiblanco club.
But with Atleti still trying to shove a stubborn Maxi Rodríquez towards Tottenham and José Antonio Reyes to literally anyone who will take the whining waste of space, the world of Atlético Madrid shouldn’t be quiet for too much longer.
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About Tim Stannard and Simon Talbot
When he isn't fighting the evil forces of flamenco or attracting libel actions for La Liga Loca,
Tim Stannard is building his media empire in Madrid. As well as contributing to Football365 and doing odd jobs elsewhere, Tim also works in the glamorous world of television as a producer, script writer, news editor, coffee boy and stand-in fluffer.
Simon Talbot? Well, he's a man of mystery.