Why are you all people hiding behing the squad excuse?
It s such a terrible excuse.
The one Xavi fanboys are using to this day to excuse him
We know very well, we have seen many times how a better coach achieves much more than his predecessor with the very same squad.
We have also seen it more that changing coaches ends worse when issues is actuallythe squad.
This Atletico side has a board with no ambition but CL qualifications on regular basis and they are putting a squad that is just good enough for that, and it is only because other Liga clubs who should compete are abysmal now (The Sevilla, Villarreal etc).
Their squad problem is a valid issue, you can't build a team with Witsel as starting CB playing beside Savic in a team that is defensively oriented. You are building attack around Griezmann and Morata like it is 2016, a midfield with the likes of Koke and Saul.
It is old, slow mediocre squad at best, that have few above average players that is keeping it a float, that was build in the most awful manner. They don't have enough squad depth to be playing those extra CL, super cup game, while their rivals are more rested.
I don't think they have a single outfield player that would start for the top 3 clubs in EPL, and even in RM, Bayern or even Barca I doubt there will be more than two.
Maybe thet could improve if they nail a perfect replacement, but for a club like Atletico the chances of that are very low.
PS: Regarding Xavi, he hand picked the squad we have and was given massive funds in 2022. He has no coaching history except last year Liga titles to make someone believe it could get better, and Barca isn't a club for long term coaching. It is totally different situation. And despite all the issues we have we can attract top coaches unlike Atletico.