What is Cholismo?

Cholismo is the idea ('philosophy') behind the success of Atletico de Madrid since 2011. It's principles are those of defensive solidity, a team rapid in both transitions- following the loss and recovery of the ball- detailed tactical organisation, pragmatism, aggression, and an incredible desire to win. 'Partido a partido'- one match at a time (or, literally, 'match to match')-  is a central pillar of El Cholo's success.

At the heart of Cholismo is Simeone's quote: "Effort is non-negotiable". This represents the mentality of his sides; extremely hard working. Every player must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the team.

Defensively, Atletico de Madrid are willing to press high against their opponent, disrupting build up play, but they are also remarkably comfortable to relinquish possession of the ball and drop into a (very) low defensive block making it incredibly hard for the opposition to break them down. From here, the team will look to force the ball into wide areas before initiating a press. The aim is to deny the opposition the chance to penetrate and access the center of the pitch. Atleti employ both zonal and aggressive man-marking tactics- the latter used predominately once players recognise certain pressing triggers. When the ball is won, quick combination play to get the ball away from pressure and into areas where the opponent has left space (usually in behind the Center Back's or where the Full Back's would be) sees the team spring a counter attack.

This approach, combined with inventive ways to defending, has seen Simeone find ways to compete against teams with far greater financial, and even technical, power. Tactically, it is a fascinating approach- the way in which the 4-4-2 finds many different ways to adjust and counter other systems with good positional structures. Simeone's sides can defend for prolonged spells of matches without the ball, extremely deep in their own half.

One of the most important points about El Cholismo is that it is not purely 'shape', tactics, that see incredible defensive displays, but it is the individual quality of defending from each player in various 1v1 situations that contributes to phenomenal defensive records from Atletico de Madrid. This is a testament to the coaching qualities of Diego Simeone and his coaching team in how they have made each of their players better, and molded them into perfect cogs for an, at times, unbreakable system.