Arthur Vermeeren’s transfer to Atlético Madrid started as a dream, but quickly turned into a nightmare. With minimal playing time and a language barrier as an obstacle, he has been sidelined in Madrid for weeks.
As he struggles to adapt to Spanish culture and coach Diego Simeone’s ‘Cholismo’ philosophy, Vermeeren remains determined and focused to get his chance.
Relevo: “The paradoxical disappearance of Vermeeren
With just one starting spot and two brief substitute appearances, Arthur Vermeeren has played just 83 minutes in 19 games for his new club Atlético Madrid so far. Although an adjustment period was expected for Vermeeren, no one predicted that his opportunities would be so scarce.
However, Vermeeren’s intention was to play a lot at Atlético Madrid. Since his transfer to the Colchoneros, Vermeeren has not made a single appearance and has been confined to the bench for eight consecutive games, without making any playing minutes.
“The paradoxical disappearance of Vermeeren after his transfer to Atlético,” wrote Relevo last week. “Simeone does not seem convinced that the Belgian can make a difference in a team that has played a lot of games in recent months and sometimes even needs rotations.”
The ghost transfer-Vermeeren: “Starting to turn into a nightmare”
The Spanish newspaper ASH even calls it a ‘ghost transfer’. While injuries plague the squad and some players groan under the burden of a packed schedule, Diego Simeone barely calls on Arthur Vermeeren at Atlético.
“In Madrid, Vermeeren is better known for his videos with Antwerp than for his minutes in the Atleti,” said ASH. “Arthur Vermeeren’s transfer to Atlético Madrid is slowly turning into a nightmare,” wrote La Dernière Heure on his turn.
After all, the competition in his position is of a high level, including the Argentine world champion Rodrigo de Paul, Saúl, Pablo Barrios and Marcos Llorente.
Simeone generally prefers experienced, crafty and athletic players, and is not known as a training coach who spends a lot of time developing young talent.
Vermeeren is still young, frail, shy, barely speaks Spanish and is still developing. These factors have ensured that Simeone has hardly called on the Belgian newcomer.
Vermeeren must master the Spanish language and ‘Cholismo’
In the beginning, the language barrier was a huge obstacle for Arthur Vermeeren, who did not speak a word of Spanish. But he didn’t give up; on the contrary, he is now taking language lessons to make rapid progress.
Although some staff members speak English, communication is mainly conducted in Spanish, with the aim of Vermeeren mastering the language as quickly as possible.
For Diego ‘Cholo’ Simeone, Spanish is even the only language, which means that a player or another trainer often has to translate during conversations with Vermeeren. So not an ideal situation.
But perhaps even more importantly, Vermeeren must master ‘Cholismo’, which is crucial to his success at Atlético Madrid.
“He has to keep working. He tries to evolve, he tries to understand the language better by taking lessons. “It’s going much better, and as a result he relates much more to his teammates,” Simeone told the Spanish press last week.
Despite the difficulties, Vermeeren remains calm and focused. He knows there is a plan behind the scenes and remains confident in his own abilities.
“The most important thing is to stay calm, because if I start to panic, things will only go worse,” he said in March The last news. He focuses on his physical fitness and performs intense strength exercises before training, waiting for his next opportunity.
“So that, as soon as I get a new opportunity, I grab it with both hands. Whether I have to wait one week, one month or two months – that depends on the coach. It’s not nice that I’m not playing, but in the meantime I’m trying to prepare as best I can.”
“Vermeeren is the future of Belgium”
At Antwerp FC there is a prevailing feeling that Arthur Vermeeren still made the right decision by leaving for Atlético Madrid.
Jelle Bataille, player of Antwerp FC, emphasized The newspapaer that if Vermeeren had switched in the summer, he would have had much more playing time by experiencing a full preparation, playing practice matches and getting into the rhythm.
“Now it is more difficult to get into that team because Atlético is four or five steps higher. But it is certainly the right choice,” says Bataille. “Arthur is the future of Belgium. He is going to have a very big career.”
Sven Jaecques, CEO of RAFC, has no problem seeing Vermeeren on the bench in Madrid. “No, because I’m sure he has taken that into account. Arthur is a courageous guy. Not everyone dares to switch from Antwerp to Atlético in the middle of the season,” Jaecques said. Gazette of Antwerp.
“But with him I have the feeling that he knew very well why he did it.” According to the CEO, Vermeeren will mainly use these months to adapt to the country, culture and language. “That’s why he remains so calm. He doesn’t panic at all.
