The Portuguese striker Joao Felix is already with him
Atlético de Madrid
. Next to the English side Kieran trippier and the central Montenegrin Stefan
Savic they began their preseason in the mattress box. They didn't do it in the field in the morning yet, but it is the afternoon session. His first session on the grass of the preseason. And in a very good mood.
In the case of the Portuguese there are many eyes on him, as happened in the previous season. Especially now that a season has passed, which is supposed to have been his adaptation to the rojiblanco team. Everyone agrees that the one that is coming must be its explosion in the Athletic.
The player already started the preseason a few days ago with his country, with which he played two games. Spectacular his performance before Croatia, a great game in which he scored his first goal. A start to the course to get excited about him again, as happened last season. The last two gaming references, his stay with Portugal, and the final clash last year, against Leipzig in the final phase of Champions, they have awakened illusion in the mattress fans.
In the Champions It was just over half an hour of quality, his best version, in which he caused a penalty and he scored it himself against the German team. Something more than half an hour of personality, overflow and magic of the player that reveal what is expected of him in the coming season.
“It is normal because they are young. We are going to give them peace of mind, Joao has talent, quality has … He has to be patient, not disengage. That anger he has for what he wants to show, for his qualities, sometimes costs him. That will give him maturity, balance, make himself available to learn, because very few at 20 are absolute stars. What talent do you have? Obviously, we all see that. He is humble, polite, respectful, hardworking … so time, ”he asked Simeone ago at the end of last year for Joao Felix before saying that “in the next season (the one that is already coming) we will surely see him better.”
How to improve the season? In the past he played 36 games, 28 of them as a starter. It was the tenth most games played this past season. In number of minutes it was the tenth most used by Simeone, totaled 2,483 minutes. In addition, he has been the second top scorer of the Athletic in this past campaign, with nine goals. It only made him better Alvaro Morata, with 16. And he had three assists, being the seventh most.
THE MORNING WORKOUT
The three new incorporated –Savic, Joao Félix and Trippier– were the only absences -except for the Hispanic-Brazilian Diego Costa and the Colombian Santiago Arias, who are still in isolation at their homes- in the morning session on the lawn in Los Angeles de San Rafael (Segovia), the first of the two training sessions scheduled for this Thursday by the rojiblanco coaching staff.
One morning that the footballers of the first team of the Athletic and the homegrown players performed separately by groups to complete the different exercises, physical and with the ball, provided by the coaches of the work group led by the Argentine Diego Pablo Simeone.
Among those exercises, some generated laughter among the players, such as the one that made them drive the ball while they carried a large ball in their hands like those used for Pilates, or the one that made them advance in a trio united by a ribbon elastic while head-hitting a ball without throwing it.
There were also moments to exploit the explosiveness and speed on the ascending ramp that Atlético has installed in recent years in the Segovian sports complex, or to practice reaching the goal and shooting.
The rojiblanco team continues to advance in its preparation, which includes, after this week of concentration, a trip to Cadiz to play on Tuesday 15 the Ramón de Carranza Trophy against the Cadiz team.