ATM

Yeah. Here at Atlético de Madrid, he hinted in an interview in Portugal that his style did not fit Simeone's and that he needed more freedom. Simeone gave him 2 titles after those statements and gave him freedom playing as a second striker behind Suarez and in both games he neither put pressure nor sacrificed one bit, nor did he make differences, he did nothing with his "freedom of action" He only made gestures unpleasantness towards the bench when he was substituted in the second game. Something that neither Barcelona nor Chelsea have dared to do. The next thing he did was push as hard as he could to go on loan to Barcelona. There he failed in a style that benefited him and said that it was difficult for him to adapt to Barcelona's game. Now at Chelsea I don't know what excuse they will make. But if in a month or a month and a half, he is not a starter, he will ask to leave and look for new excuses.

I mean, there’s a mix of optimistic messages about Joao along with pessimistic ones. Moments where you mention he seems like he’s going to become top-tier, followed by inconsequential moments. And in the end, Joao’s inconsistency and the prospect of him becoming important and untouchable still feel like something distant that never materializes. The same thing happened here in Spain. Right now, he’s having a good run of form and is showing pride after what Maresca said (he also did the same when Simeone said similar things here). But it lasts for about a month; then he stops working, stops pressing the opponent, and goes back to playing for himself. Joao once said that his goal was to win the Ballon d’Or, and we all believed him. That’s why he’s always been regarded as a top player who never truly takes off. But the reality is that he’s a good player for easy matches, like the 2-6 against Wolves, the 5-0 vs Barrow, the 1-4 vs Panathinaikos, the 8-0 vs Noa, or the 1-5 vs Southampton. In those games, he has scored or assisted. All blowouts or against weak opponents. Against Newcastle, which was a more challenging match, he didn’t show up. And Maresca doesn’t trust him for games against tough opponents. That’s a fact. What I’m trying to say is that Joao isn’t going to improve. What you see now is exactly what he is.

Hello Blues friends, I’m back after months to give you a bit of context. What you’re going through right now is exactly what we, Atlético de Madrid fans, experienced with Joao. Some of you think that his brilliance alone is enough and that he’s exactly what the team needs. Others believe it’s not sufficient, and that he needs more work and consistency. And others have faith in Joao because Maresca has said he will work with him to bring out that collective play and effort he currently lacks. I can guarantee that we’ve been through all these phases, and I can confidently tell you what’s going to happen next. I’m firmly convinced because we lived through the exact same thing here: You need to understand what Joao is like: The Portuguese is an incredibly selfish individual who always blames external factors for his lack of performance. Right now, I’m sure that after Maresca’s words—essentially pointing out that Joao doesn’t sacrifice himself for the team—Joao will feel offended and will mix moments of effort with others of complete apathy. Joao is a player who doesn’t know how to read the game. He never cared to learn. A former Atlético de Madrid player said that Joao was only interested in doing pretty things on the pitch and showing off, but he wasn’t interested in learning what Simeone was teaching him—how to read the game and sacrifice himself for the team in order to become a top player. It’s impossible for Joao to sacrifice himself for the team, and it’s impossible for him to learn how to read the game. If you’re scoring 20 goals, providing 10-15 assists, and leading the team, then it wouldn’t matter that you don’t defend or that you don’t know how to read the game. But Joao will never score much more than 10 goals in the Premier League, nor will he get more than 7-8 assists. That’s not top-level. Mudryk is achieving similar numbers. If you’re not making the difference, if you’re not consistent and performing in 70% of games, and on top of that, you refuse to play for the team, you ultimately become a burden. Modern football cannot be understood without collective effort. Modern football has surpassed Joao. He will continue to produce beautiful moments, but at 25, he’ll still be considered a future prospect. He will always remain more "beautiful to watch" than truly good.

Joao can rest on the field for another 4 games

Scott Harris; Please Believe me. There have been many years watching Joao grow at Atlético and many years seeing how his head works. He tries inconsistently. If you want to be a differential player, each match you play has to be as good as the previous one. There were no bad games for Kanté, there are no bad games for Palmer. The great players, the stars, have 80/90% of very good games and never compromise on effort. They always want to win. Joao's vision of football is to try to shine. The team doesn't care, the coach doesn't care either. You will always have the same problem because it lies in your head and not in your feet. Joao Felix is more pretty than good.

Joao is this. He comes out when everything is won and scores a goal or does a wonderful action. Joao always starts with rhythm and enthusiasm and when he is required to be the one who scores the first goal, who fights for the ball, who runs to recover the ball, who presses, then Joao will not appear and the coach will replace him, and Joao will get angry and He will go a few games without appearing and then he will do something magical again and disappear again... It has always been like that. Very irregular player with an excessive ego.

How is Gallagher as a player? What flaws does he have? In which position is he best? Which player is he comparable to? Thanks.

The Portuguese league isn't even in the same league. Comparing it to La Liga is like comparing the Premier League to the Irish league. Cristiano used to score fewer goals in the Premier League because he was just a kid and wasn't fully developed physically yet, but later he scored in any league and against any team, whether it was English, German, Italian, Spanish... The Premier League has a big advantage: the TV money is distributed equally among all the clubs, which makes it fairer and more competitive. A few teams actually have a shot at winning the title. Here in Spain, we’ve copied the English model for the last two seasons, but before 2022, the TV deals were negotiated individually by each team based on their screen time, and Madrid and Barcelona took around 65% of it, leaving just 35% for the rest of the teams. That made our league really unappealing and not very competitive. Only Atlético Madrid, with a budget almost four times smaller than Real Madrid and Barcelona, has managed to compete with those two. I'm telling you all this so you get the bigger picture of what La Liga is like. Here, we're very strong tactically, but over there in the Premier League, you’re much more physical. The games are end-to-end, where players like Conor are crucial. Here, Madrid is copying your style of play, with technical but very physical players. And they're paying big money for them: Camavinga, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius, Rudiger, Militao, Mendy... Lots of physicality but also quality. But traditionally, Spanish league play is more tactical, more strategic; players who are smart tactically and technically skilled tend to succeed. Modric, Kroos, Griezmann, Pedri, Yamal, Rodri (when he was here). The styles are just different. As for Joao, he's going to score the same amount of goals there as he did here. Not many. Because he's the kind of player who only makes a difference in one out of every four games. He doesn’t like to work and thinks he's the star, but without proving it. He's more about style than substance. Between Maresca and Xavi, there’s not much of a difference. He'll play well at first, you'll like him, but as the season goes on, he'll start thinking he's the star and stop working hard.

Hey Chelsea fans, I'm an Atlético de Madrid supporter who has a soft spot for Chelsea. Apologies if my English isn't great. I know you've already seen Joao in action before, but I wanted to give you a bit of insight into why he didn't work out at our club and why we were really eager for him to leave. First and foremost: Both Atlético and Chelsea are teams, with fans who value effort combined with skill. We've always been a bit short on the skill side, but you guys usually manage to blend both qualities well. Here, we used to call Joao "The Hiker" because Simeone always asked him to take his game up a notch and work selflessly for the team. This is something any coach expects in modern football. But Joao never wanted to step up, and seeing him just walking around on the pitch instead of pressing or letting a player slip by because he didn’t want to run earned him that nickname. Whichever side he plays on is going to be a defensive weak spot. Cucurella is a fighter, but he's going to struggle even more than when covering Mudrik. Joao's attitude has been pretty low, especially when he went on loan to Barcelona and celebrated scoring against us by kissing their badge. That was a really unprofessional slap in the face. Pochettino, Potter, Xavi, Simeone, Roberto Martinez, Fernando Santos... they all ended up benching him, and there was never any self-reflection from Joao. He’s got a huge ego. He never thinks anything is his fault. He wanted to play for Barcelona because he believed their style was perfect for him, where he wouldn’t have to run much. But he was wrong because Xavi's and Guardiola’s teams demand a lot of effort from their forwards in pressing. If Joao were scoring 25 goals and getting 15 assists per season, maybe you could excuse him from pressing and working hard for the team. But he misses a lot of chances, and his numbers aren't any better than, say, one of our backup players like Ángel Correa. We’re definitely happy he's gone, and the sale price was great. I love Gallagher, always thought he’d be perfect for our team, so I’m really bummed he’s leaving Chelsea, especially like this. If you’ve got any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. I might ask you some about Conor if that’s okay. Cheers!