Koke

If I wanted to play for Atletico, I would play midfield.

I would want to be next to Koke.

Would you be like a, a Gabi type of midfielder? Would you be-

Yes.

I mean, it's, I, I don't know if you disrupt the, the, the synergy at the moment.

Like, do you just keep Barrios and Cardoso? Like, I, I don't see how you can, you can justify.

I mean, Koke, do you bring him in for a bigger game? But I mean, I, I don't, I don't think you can drop either at the moment.

moment.Yeah, not right now, man.

And then also Atleti's first win in the Champions League against United, a team Atleti, Atleti has never lost to in the Champions League.

Uh, just to mention, uh, before the game started, Koke's mom died and, uh, we at the podcast, uh, are offering our condolences to him.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And they went centrally, Atleti actually worked so good at, um, winning back the second balls and I think Couto Romero, I think his ability to read and intercept I think was very vital in this game and even though Alaves kind of had like the man advantage inside given Atleti prioritized defense in the flanks which is kind of unlike Cholo given that he always prioritizes centrally but I think he's becoming more flexible in his tactics and I think given that Atleti like kind of have a baseline of how they want to play and how want-- how they want to defend it kind of make it like, um, you know when you prepare for certain games you change few of your principles based on the opponent and he did that and I think it was successful and he mentioned after the game that Atleti actually had a very, very good game against Alaves even without the red card.

And in possession, Kev, I think the ball circulation was kind of good and I think we'll get to the United game where he mentioned about the team's balance in and out of possession improving.

Atleti kind of had like a good, um, rest defense when the ball was on the right it was like a two three, two center backs, um, Koke, Johnny and Grimaldo which kind of eased, um, circulation, um, to the other side and also in case of ball loss, Kev, and I think that was even more so evident after, um- Let's, um, Alaves when a man down.

And I think in previous seasons, we have seen where cases where the team are counter-attacking even against, uh, Villarreal this season, for example.

Like the midfield partner can sometimes be Pablo Barrios, as it was against Manchester United.

Sometimes it's Koke, sometimes it's even Marcos Llorente if he moves him inside.

But when Simeone can help it, he doesn't touch Johnny and he, he plays the full 90 minutes.

Uh, and I think we know what Johnny is and what he isn't at this point.

in confidence.

Um, I think, uh, uh, looking at the FotMob page here, yeah, I'm right in thinking this.

Only Koke is averaging more passes per 90 minutes this season than Johnny Cardoso.

Um, I think he's becoming more and more press resistant.

[singing]

That's for you, Koke.

This win's for you.

What's going on, guys? Welcome into the stream.

All right.

Uh, I, I think we, we gotta start here, though.

In case you guys missed it this morning, uh, Koke's mother, uh, Ana Morillo, uh, Borja, died this morning.

And that has, that gave this match a tragic tinge, and it made it a very emotional night.

¿No?

A ver, ¿con quién compite Obed? Koke, que hoy no estuvo porque tuvo un fallecimiento en su familia.

Lamentable, evidentemente.

Pablo Barrios, que se ha ganado la titularidad.