“It is better to judge from the outside, I’m not one that look in the mirror very much. But if you add up the different stages of my life, we can say without a doubt that we have made a major breakthrough.” Diego Pablo Simeone rewinds the clock thinking about the objectives that led him to the coaching job at Atletico Madrid. “The stage in Catania – recalls the Argentine in an interview by La Nación – made me realize that there was another, because I came from clubs like River, San Lorenzo, Racing and Estudiantes, built to be champions, and entered into another where there was a lot of hard work to win away from home. Compared to the coach who started the matches with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with two attacking wingers I am much more balanced today.”
In the future we can expect more changes. “It’s moments. The coach Simeone will continue to change. I follow the characteristics of my players. We started with a 4-2-3-1 that Argentina did not understand. I put Buonanotte on the side, Papu Gomez on the right. Today, I play with wingers like Koke and Saul, this gives me a lot of stability. When I face teams that play like I played ten years ago, I see that I have much more support.”
Is there a Simeone style? “The style is winning – says il Cholo -. Beginning with the players I try to strengthen an idea: to win. I don’t care about being liked by others. For example, in the debate between the possession and being direct it is not about saying to people what they want to hear, but to talk and telling the truth. And if I don’t have the players to support a playing style with a lot of possession, I don’t try to do what I can’t accomplish. You can’t handle every game the same way, it’s not the same thing playing against Sevilla, Valencia or Barcelona. You can’t play in the same way or with the same players.”
If he would like to go to a club that gives him a carte blanche on the transfer market: “I think I’m a young coach who is in the place where he wants to be. It motivates me a lot to give to the club what we have been able to give it: its growth, its continued presence in Europe, but I know that the path of a coach can lead to many places, and one day I’ll have to be at another team. It is part of life. No club lets you do whatever you want with the money. I’m of the idea of sharing the work, I don’t believe I’m omnipotent. I work for the club. At Athletic I try to reconcile my needs with the club’s resources to strengthen the team. I guess with a stronger economy you are closer to seeing their wishes being realized.”
In the letter at the end of last year he quoted John Rockefeller (“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the better”): does that mean that Simeone feels ready for a new adventure? “No, I was saying to let go of fears, it was a suggestion to the team. There are always obstacles, but it is only about the game of football.”
Closing on the news of the last days, the alleged proposals by Inter and clubs of the Premier League: “I don’t budge. The same way I don’t budge to negative criticism. The rumors come and go. I keep waking up with the same enthusiasm for training and live every coaching Atletico Madrid as if it were the last.”
Source: fcinternews.it
