18 phrases from Cholo Simeone: how he convinced Luis Suárez to play for Atlético and his message for those who call him defensive

Diego Simeone, continues to make history at the head of the Atlético de Madrid, on this occasion by winning La Liga, the second since in 2011, when he landed in the Spanish team, with which he already has eight titles as a coach. This Monday, after the bubbles of the weekend celebration fell, the Cholo He reviewed his campaign with the team and made an assessment of his work.

In dialogue with ESPN 360, the coach was proud of the achievement obtained with the mattress box and highlighted the work that he and his coaching staff do every day. In addition, he valued that since his inauguration, the fans have once again felt represented by the team: “When I arrived at the club, the first words he said were, ‘I want people to feel identified with the history of the club and the team.’ And my team has always been fierce, counter-attacking, with talented players, but as long as the collective work prevails over the individual.”.

“This club is made based on effort, work, resistance and that this year we have been the champion gives it much more value,” said Simeone, who as a player also shone with the red-and-white shirt between 1994 and 1997 and later between 2003 and 2005. In addition, he highlighted how complicated it is to be able to celebrate in the Iberian country: “It is much more difficult to win in Spain. To beat Barcelona and Real Madrid you have to do it very well ”.

Regarding your working method, Simeone He highlighted leadership as his main tool and the ambition that he seeks to transmit to his clients constantly: “As much as you have talent, you have to have work, because otherwise it is not enough to get to where you want to go, to compete normally it is enough, but to fulfill objectives no ”. In this sense, I send a message to his detractors: “For those who call us defensive, I smile at myself … We played with Koke in the midfield, Lemar on the left, Llorente, who scored 14 goals, with Trippier on the right who is more offensive than defensive, with Carrasco on the left, who is a forward playing in the lane, not to mention Correa and Suárez, who only speak their names ”.

On the other hand, the former coach of Estudiantes, Racing and River, clarified that analysts have the task of explaining things after they happen, but that coaches must anticipate what happens, so there will always be criticisms, since they are more likely to be wrong in their game readings. In turn, he indicated that there is a double standard for analysis: “This is a game of forcefulness, when you have forcefulness everything that develops behind is fantastic and when you do not have forcefulness, what develops behind is criticizable.”

On the tactical point, he indicated that falling in love with a system is not convenient, but it is key to see how footballers can develop better and from there establish a scheme: “Each one has their own thinking and is respectable. I always try to go after what the players ask of me ”, he commented, recalling that the season started with a 4-4-2 but on the sixth date they went to 5-3-2. “The players then start to feel comfortable with the game and you watch it and the famous phrase of ‘societies’ appears. And the coaches have to accompany them ”.

The Cholo He highlighted not only the attitude that footballers need to have, beyond talent, but something else: “To be able to play you have to understand what you have to do, because otherwise it is very difficult to get to what you want.”

The man who has a contract until 2022 with him Tool, expanded to talk about his working method, but emphasized that this is the result of years of learning that began in 1988 when at the age of 18 he was summoned to the Argentine team that led Carlos Salvador Bilardo: “He marked me a lot. I learned to compete with him, with the voracity to win and that is not always done by everyone. Because you get tired, you get bored, you choose the least effort, whatever. And at that time of his as a coach, in ’88 with the National Team, I was already playing with 5-3-2 and I found the possibility of growing as a footballer learning to play in different positions on the field. Because at that time they were fighting with the fixed 4-3-1-2 and there was nothing else. He fought against a whole system and a thought, for the firmness of believing in the footballers that he had. And being able to develop it makes it even bigger. He did it, he convinced the footballers, he transmitted it, the National Team was very strong, especially the one from 86, and he left us a legacy that is marking you ”.

But Bilardo was not the only one who marked him. “As a coach I also had Coco Basile, who spoke and gave you goosebumps. You wanted to go split a ball right after the technical talk was over. When you are a child you are a sponge and grabs and consumes things much more, and Bilardo and Basile played me. I don’t know what would have happened if Menotti and Guardiola had touched me”.

The Atlético de Madrid signed for this season who was undoubtedly one of the best – or perhaps the best – reinforcement in Europe: Luis Suarez, from Barcelona, ​​after the leadership of Josep María Bartomeu lor let go as part of a ‘restructuring’ plan. “He is a winner, he is touched with a wand. He came with a rebellion of a 20-year-old boy, with an enthusiasm, with a thirst for revenge to show people that he was in force, it is admirable. And when someone who is used to winning joins a team that needs to win I said, ‘This year he can paint well.’

The Uruguayan was key because he quickly adapted to what the coach requested and because he also contributed 21 goals in La Liga, including the consecration against Real Valladolid. But this did not surprise him at Cholo, who revealed that he had tried to sign him a while ago: “We already liked him at Liverpool, on a quest at the time for him to come with us. He was much younger, but he chose Barcelona and he was not wrong at all, he broke it ”.

However, fate wanted the paths of both to cross: “When the possibility appeared, the club called me and I said ‘Are you serious?’ Don’t even ask me, let me talk to him. I told him, ‘We need to win and you want to win, so the door is open.’ With that was enough, so that Fought sign your contract for two years.

Simeone He was enthusiastic about what is coming for his team and announced that Real Madrid and Barcelona will now have to make a transition of players that they have already made. Although, he avoided referring to what his future will be in office since his contract ends in June 2022 and he has not yet renewed it, in this sense he was consulted on whether he would like to take command of the Argentine team when the cycle ends. from Lionel Scaloni: ”I know that at some point it will happen, but I don’t know when. Sincerely I dont know”.

By last, the technician was hurt by what was the death of Maradona, With whom he shared a team in the national team and in Spain: “Diego’s thing was hard, because there are certain people who we believe are never going to die. It was seeing a reality, it seemed that Diego could not happen. The best memories I have for him, especially when he was very young, when he trained in Seville and I was alone and he would take me home. He took great care of me. He was a wonderful person. “

Regarding the situation of the ArgentinaHe was also hurt: “I see the country with sadness, it is continuous to say that we have to work as a team, but it is very difficult for Argentines to work as a team. We are very good individually, but collectively it manages to give us and open our heads ”. In addition, he sent a message to the rulers: “With the pandemic it is difficult, I know that it is not easy to be in the place where decisions have to be made, but for something they are in that place. Obviously they will have to be taken and that they are for the improvement of a country. Argentines are healthy, noble, fearless, hard-working people, but we have to share more, because otherwise it becomes very difficult ”.

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