MADRID, 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Atlético de Madrid, Diego Pablo Simeone, spoke this Tuesday about the situation of Joao Félix, who has been a substitute in recent games, and whom he has wanted to exonerate because “everything bad he does” is because his coach does it “even worse” for not knowing how to give him “what he needs”.
“Every bad thing he does is because I do it even worse, all the frustration he may have is that I haven’t been able to give him everything he needs to show all the talent and football he has,” Simeone said in the press conference prior to this Wednesday’s game against Bruges.
The Argentine explained that Joao Félix is ”a very important player for the club” that they need, but that “in this period he has not been able to meet the most important thing that he understands, which is the goal, and that causes him frustration” .
However, he pointed out that “the goal will come as a result of his work.” “He is working well, he did good training and based on that line of getting involved and focusing on what is important, which is the team, everything else will come naturally,” he added.
Regarding the start of the season, Simeone acknowledged that Joao Félix “has not changed at all” in his way of working, “but his teammates who are competing with him are better and his coach understands that there are other boys who are better than him in these moments”.
The ‘Cholo’, who is playing this Wednesday a large part of his future options in this edition of the Champions League, declared that they did not expect to reach this point in this situation. “We always imagine the best, not negative things, obviously we imagined better things than what we have,” he confessed.
“We’re facing a Club Brugge team that plays well, has good game dynamics, makes good use of its movements out or in with the strikers they have, with a lot of play inside. We saw the game we had last week and I imagine a similar game, they with the same proposal. They went to Porto with the same courage, they did very well, they won a game with great confidence and great forcefulness”, he analyzed.
The mattress coach is expecting a rival “with a lot of mental strength from these results they have obtained” and, instead, sees his team “on the path of seeking to grow, with great enthusiasm and desire to give everything to improve” . “That’s the way we have to go to find the best we have as a team,” he said.
“I CAN’T IMAGINE MYSELF IN ANY OTHER PLACE”
Simeone also highlighted the importance of the fans in the match against Bruges. “We need the people, because they are a very important part of this club, of this team. In the time that I have been here, the strength from outside made us many times get even more than we have and I hope that tomorrow they can be there because we need them.” “, warned the ‘Cholo’.
He also wanted to get his team away from the media noise about a possible elimination. “I know that from a journalistic point of view what is given away, we know the importance of this game, we have just lost two games in a row in the Champions League and we need to do it very well again, focus and be strong in this competition and to We have to do our best,” he said.
Simeone referred to the differences between the two strikers he has used the most this year, Álvaro Morata and Matheus Cunha. “Álvaro is more of the area, more of a finisher, more of a classic number ‘9’, and Matheus gives us different alternatives, he is also able to associate with those in the middle, he has unchecking out and in and he has an enormous job for the team. We need that, that work that the strikers show when they can press, they can recover and they can help the team as a result of the search we have,” he detailed.
In addition, he put Joao Félix, Ángel Correa and Antoine Griezmann into the equation. “These five, all with different characteristics, but we can calmly look for copies that can be found in the best way according to the moment of each one,” stressed the Argentine.
Finally, Diego Pablo Simeone recognized that he personally is “with the same security as always”. “Yesterday they interviewed me and they told me if I imagined myself in another place, and I answered that I can’t imagine myself in another because that’s because I’m leaving, and I’m not leaving, I’m here. From being here, I hope to transmit what I feel and for what I have been working for so many years at the club”, he concluded.