Gallagher In Madrid: The Pitbull Is Loved, And How
Much like Elton John, Conor Gallagher can feel the love tonight. And indeed, it is where he is.
This is a guest article by Chirag Sharatkumar. Subscribe to Sideline Stories.
Conor Gallagher has had a stellar start to his Atletico Madrid career, fans singing his name, team-mates praising him, and the Metropolitano ecstatic with applause.
It sometimes feels like Gallagher is someone who was always meant to play for Atletico, as if the dust and heat of the Calderon lingers in his bones.
The kind of football that thrives at the Metropolitano isn’t for everyone. Far from it, in fact. It’s hard, relentless, and not always pretty. But for those who understand it, who live it, like Diego Simeone, there’s nothing better.
And Gallagher gets it. He feels it in every sprint, every tackle, every lung-busting run to win a ball that most would give up as lost. In Madrid, the fans have started calling him Pitbull. “It’s a good one,” he says.
What fans across Madrid are saying too, is that there’s something so Atleti about Gallagher. Something so Simeone. Very rarely in football do we find such a beautiful symbiosis between player and club; such that they are independently defined by the very same things: grit, energy, intensity.
In many ways, with a bit of hindsight this move — and its resulting success, at least so far — feels almost inevitable. Gallagher brings something so very similar to “the Atletico way” that it’s almost shameful that he hasn’t played for them sooner.
Yet at 24, and after a bitter end to his largely sweet spell at Chelsea, it seems that the midfielder has finally found himself a welcoming home in Madrid.
At Chelsea, they adored his effort, the way he fought through every minute and chased every ball. Even during the club’s most challenging phases, Gallagher stood out. A worker when there was work to do, a leader when none other appeared, a heartbeat when the pulse felt weak.
Love from the fans was never an issue. A boyhood Blue come good, Gallagher felt more Chelsea than anyone, but the admiration from the stands fell flat in front of the decisions in the boardroom. He was often accused of being prosaic, of lacking a certain technical quality on the ball. And ultimately, Chelsea’s revolving door of players, managers and ideas left little room for someone like him. They had to bring in cash to satisfy the Premier League’s PSR, and Gallagher was the shiny academy product that was always going to be the sacrificial lamb.
And so, Chelsea’s loss is proving more and more to be Atletico’s gain.
Gallagher is better technically than many give him credit for, though not without obvious weaknesses to his game. He is strong, sharp and complete enough to, as he puts it, “do a bit of everything.”
And this is where he is shining. Under Simeone, he is being played to his strengths, with freedom to run, press, create space and push himself forward. He has started mostly on the left of a compact midfield three alongside Koke and Rodrigo de Paul, where he generally plays the most advanced role.
Though brief, his Atletico career is already filled with some impressive highlights. A goal against Valencia that saw him become the first English goalscorer for the clyb since 1923, and another against Rayo Vallecano to rescue a point in a tough midweek draw.
Add to that numerous moments of pressure, of intensity, and there was perhaps no better way for Gallagher to endear himself to his new fanbase.
In both of the aforementioned matches, his performance was much more than the just the goals he scored. It was the attitude to run for every minute, press every opponent, chase every ball and win every duel.
Across his last two league games, Gallagher has won 17 duels, made nine tackles, successfully completed four interceptions, and won five fouls. With the two neatly finished goals added for good measure, it’s safe to say that he has adapted to “the Atletico way” in all its rigorous glory.
The wait to join Atletico may have been long, but there’s a joy in watching Gallagher now, a freedom that wasn’t always there at Chelsea. By his own admission, he feels “wanted and appreciated.” Perhaps here in Madrid, he has finally found the love that he never lost for Chelsea.
Maybe that’s what makes this feel so much like destiny. Atletico, with all their imperfections and rugged charm, have opened their arms to a player who brings every ounce of himself onto the pitch, imperfections and all.
Gallagher is not without weaknesses, of course. He can be erratic and inconsistent, and he isn’t the precise, creative midfielder that Spanish football typically values. But in Simeone’s world, that’s part of the beauty. Mistakes, shortcomings even, are forgivable if the attitude is right. And Gallagher’s attitude, at least so far, has been perfect.
And that’s what feels most striking about this. The way Gallagher has been embraced by the Atleti faithful speaks to something more than just football. It’s about being understood, perhaps in a way that he never quite was in England. He’s not from Spain, he can barely string a sentence together in Spanish at the moment, but this is where he belongs.
The biggest test of Gallagher’s Atletico Madrid career so far, though, will come this Sunday, when he and his admiring Metropolitano crowd host Real Madrid, and another Brit flourishing abroad, Jude Bellingham. Los Blancos have not been without their own struggles this season.
Gallagher may find it harder to score against Atletico’s illustrious rivals, but he will nonetheless be an important piece of the puzzle that Carlo Ancelotti must contend with.
And so, Gallagher will continue adapting to and enjoying life in Spain. The hard work, the sacrifice of body and soul, the commitment — all of it feeding the bond between him and the fans who have embraced him so completely.
Atletico have welcomed their new engine and how, with cheers, love and admiration aplenty for Gallagher; for everything he is as a footballer, even the things he’s not.