New coach Diego Simeone wants to restore Atletico Madrid to the side that made fans 'fall in love with the badge'.
The Argentine was appointed Gregorio Manzano's replacement on December 23, signing an 18-month contract with the club at which he spent two spells as a player.
The La Liga club won the Europa League in 2010, going on to win the UEFA Super Cup against Champions League winners Inter Milan.
The capital club finished seventh in the 2010/11 season, but have struggled into 10th on the La Liga table this campaign and exited the Copa del Rey at the hands of third-tier outfit Albacete on December 21.
Simeone - whose managerial career has included stops at River Plate and Racing Club in his homeland - arrived in Spain on Tuesday and wants to take stock of his squad, but is aiming to bring better times back to Estadio Vicente Calderon.
"Obviously I've come in the middle of the season after some work has been done on the squad and it's been planned a certain way," he said.
"We now have to find our style with what was prepared at the beginning of the season. We will look to play the way we like, but we do have to get together to find out what the planning was and the strategy was at the beginning of the season."
"We like an aggressive team and we would love to see what Atletico Madrid has always had and that is strength, counter-attacking football, speed and all of the other qualities that have identified this club and what has made all of Atletico fans fall in love with the badge. We have to know what football we are playing so we are looking to attain those qualities."
"I think that the club has had real quality not too long ago. The last six months have not been very good for the club, but without a doubt we have a squad that has been built with the best possible objectives in mind. With the players, we will look for the best ways to finish the season in the best possible position."
Simeone trod cautiously when asked if he would enter the market when the transfer window opened on January 1.
Atletico spent big on attacking duo Radamel Falcao (40 million euros) and Arda Turan (12 million euros) before the 2011/12 campaign, but have lacked cutting edge after the departures of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan to Manchester City and Inter Milan respectively.
"We'll have to see if the team needs strengthening in certain areas or not. As I said in the beginning, I think we have a good squad in which we trust and evidently I'm here because I believe the squad is good," he said.
"I'm here to help them reach their top performance. As for the objectives, Atletico Madrid always has the highest expectations but I'm only here to think about the next match against Malaga (on January 7)."
"All of the possibilities at the end of the season are fantasies. I live in reality and our reality is that we have to play against Malaga."
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