The Daily Rojiblanco: November 1, 2017

Welp, the good news is it’s the first day of a new month and we can try to put October behind us. The bad news is Atlético Madrid failed to defeat Qarabag FK in two meetings, which has all but ended their Champions League season unless Roma completely fall apart down the stretch (their 3-0 defeat of Chelsea yesterday suggests otherwise.)

You can check out the full write-up of the Qarabag match here, or you can watch this for a while:

• Possible replacement for Simeone

Prior to yesterday’s match, AS ran a story suggesting that Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri could be a possible successor to Diego Simeone should the Argentine move on to greener pastures at some point.

It is important to note that Simeone recently extended until 2020, and the article suggests that such a theoretical departure would be of Simeone’s own choosing. In light of yesterday, one wonders if the tenor of that conversation may have changed a bit.

I’d like to suggest that we not jump to hasty conclusions. To be sure, the results against Qarabag are inexcusable, but it is important to remember that Atleti remain undefeated in LaLiga play and are the only team so far to take points off leaders Barcelona. Further, I have to think that any manager faced with an extended registration ban deserves a pass until such a ban is lifted.

However, recent results have seen the rumblings of “Simeone out” begin to crop up. If Cholo were to get the axe, is Sarri someone you’d like to see replace him? Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti are also on the market after premature exits from Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively, and could be intriguing options.

For the record, I remain firmly “Simeone in” until he has the benefit of a transfer window to address deficiencies in the attack.

What do you think? Should he stay or should he go? And who would you have replace him? Let us know below.