MADRID, 27 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid coach Diego Pablo Simeone stated that he is working to find a way for the mattress team to be “balanced” on the eve of facing Levante, this Thursday (9:30 pm) at Ciudad de Valencia in the eleventh LaLiga Santander matchday.
At a press conference, Diego Pablo Simeone, expressed his discrepancy regarding the feeling that the athletic team is weaker in defense compared to the past year due to the goals conceded in this start of the competition.
“Lemar played ‘third’ from the middle and ended up almost like a forward. At the beginning Joao played, then Herrera, Koke … We were looking for the best alternatives. We were finding the best alternatives to balance the offensive potential. These players Griezmann joins this season, and I do not consider that he has less defensive effort than Lemar. We will have to find the way so that the team can be balanced, “he summarized.
Simeone explained that Atlético has conceded “many goals” at the beginning of the matches and that this circumstance has led them to “change the course of the match”, but highlighted the ability to react because in “many” they could come back and in the who did not have the opportunity to do so. “And that speaks very well of the team,” he said.
Regarding the ‘trident’ Joao Félix, Luis Suárez and Griezmann, he said that he will use it when they “have to play”, and he was not worried about the losses of Lemar, Marcos Llorente and Kondogbia against Levante. “Marcos has a lot of depth, he has a goal; Lemar, between the lines, combines very well, and Kondogbia balances us. Herrera, De Paul and Koke are very similar, they can play together calmly and tomorrow we will decide what to do,” he said.
Of the rival this Thursday, Levante, stressed that it is always a “complete” team, that “competes very well” and the good last season. “It has very good footballers from the middle of the field to the front and it will surely be a very competitive game with a lot of difficulty,” he predicted.
In his opinion, Ángel Correa is “very competitive” and will be “decisive as it has been in other seasons” in the rest of the calendar, and of the squad he pointed out that “the field is the boss” and “marks those who can have more minutes”. “We have to have a very fine eye to help the team. Since we arrived I have no commitment to anyone and I look for what the team can like,” he stressed.
On the other hand, he did not enter to assess who should win the next Ballon d’Or trophy. “It’s not in my power, why get involved in something they don’t call me,” said the rojiblanco coach.