“I am compatible with everyone as long as we can win,” he comments on the return of João Félix
MADRID, 2 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Atlético de Madrid coach, Diego Pablo Simeone, stated this Thursday that his pupils will be there when they “have to be there” if Real Madrid and FC Barcelona “make a mistake”, but stressing that “they both have to be wrong” since they compete ” all the time” and they make things difficult for the mattress club and any title aspirant.
“You don’t have to lie to people. We are there to compete and always be on the lookout. If they make a mistake, we are there when we have to be there. But if two make a mistake, of course, because here they both have to make mistakes. There are two in the Copa del Rey, in the Super Cup, in the Champions League… There are two of them all the time”, commented ‘Cholo’ Simeone during an interview on ‘El Partidazo de COPE’.
The Argentine coach thought that they would have fought for the LaLiga title with the good game of the final stretch of the course. “If we had done in the first part of the season what we did now, yes, but we didn’t. Reality is reality. At Real Madrid and Barcelona, their primary objective is to win. If they don’t win, it’s a problem , either in the League or in the Champions League. They are there to win LaLiga, we are here to be third, and if we are not third, it is clearly a problem”, he explained in this regard.
“We have the obligation to come out third or fourth. Now, when we come out champion, it’s extraordinary. When Madrid and Barcelona don’t come out champion, it’s a problem. And it’s the reality. But I think we understand that. Atlético is prepared so that when Real Madrid and Barcelona fail, you will be ready. But it is not easy when Lewandowski arrives at Barcelona or when Madrid has a structure of boys who have obviously always won”, he reiterated.
“Villarreal grows, Sevilla this season did not go well, Athletic Bilbao grows. We also see those who come to us, we are Real Madrid and Barcelona of which I am naming you and we come out ahead every year of all those that I am naming you”, Simeone snapped at the journalist Juanma Castaño.
“I sign to be first, of course, always. Now, later if I have to be third, I’ll be third, and if I can be second, I’ll aspire to be second. But I want to be first, always. At the club, as a result of what we’re working on “We are all going along the same lines. We are all aspiring to want to go out first, but we know that our objective for the club to continue growing as it continues to grow is to enter the Champions League”, argued the rojiblanco coach.
In addition, Simeone reviewed LaLiga 2022/23, with a lot of defensive solidity from Barça. “If I won 1-0 every game, I would be happy. Because there is a great concentration to win 1-0 and it is not easy to sustain 1-0. I imagine that in these 1-0, Barcelona has deserved to score three goals and he has missed them or he has not taken advantage of the situations he has had. I don’t think he has won 1-0 because he has defended himself. No, he has won 1-0 because he has not been forceful”, he valued.
“I understood from November that what happened to all the people around me was not my problem. My problem was the boys who were with us, the group and the team to move it forward. I give myself in the same way, I try to be in the same way, we started to win from date number 15. We would be first in LaLiga if we had played like this until today. And it is normal for people to be back with the coach, with the team, with the players And when things go wrong, it’s normal that he can walk away,” he continued.
About the Portuguese striker João Félix, he confirmed that “he will have to come to Atlético de Madrid” after his unsuccessful loan to Chelsea FC. “He will have to work with us again and obviously we will be willing to give him the best so that he can improve in what we think is important. We will have enormous conditions because he heads well, hits well with the forehand, hits on the left, has skill, He is a technical player, he has vision of the game, he is intelligent and it will be what he wants to do”, he predicted for the young Portuguese.
“I AM COMPATIBLE WITH EVERYONE WHILE WE CAN WIN”
“I am compatible with everyone as long as we can win. I don’t have any problem with anyone. I have a very open head to give myself to those who give themselves up. I talk to you about football, and in football he is a boy who has conditions , who plays well, who has always shown quality, who is always on everyone’s lips because he shows important things. He is a young boy, a boy who has an important future ahead of him and hopefully, if he is with us, better; and if It is not with us, that he can achieve it in another team”, he pointed out.
He also spoke about the future of the Belgian Yannick Carrasco. “There is that Barcelona option out there, which is a nice possibility for his career. Hopefully, if he leaves, he will leave with the joy of having given his best; and if he stays, he will stay to give his best. I always want the good players to stay, of course. But hey, later if he leaves, thank him for everything he gave us; but if he stays, give us the best he has”, he repeated.
Simeone denied that “at this time” his contract renewal is “the priority”. “There are many more priorities to resolve and in this case, if we have to discuss it, we will discuss it later when Miguel Ángel [Gil Marín] understand that the time is right. Now they are not going to offer it to me because I know the club and I know what the priorities are and at this moment the priority is another,” he said.
“MOURINHO HAS MARCADO UNA ÉPOCA”
On the other hand, he gave his opinion on the eternal rivalry between José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. “Mou has marked an era, he has generated something different in the coaches because he has fought from different places than Guardiola has had to be. Beyond going through Madrid, he has always been in teams like Porto, like Roma now, like Tottenham, like Inter, which has always been easier for being close to winning”, stressed the ‘Cholo’.
“Right now in Rome they have won the Conference and this year they have reached the Europa League final. It has been a challenge, they have been able to compete well in the final, beyond having lost it, and they have always had the chance to be surrounded of great footballers”, he declared about the recent defeat of the ‘giallorossi’ against Sevilla FC in a penalty shootout.
“Actually, it’s more difficult to win every day and Guardiola wins every day. It’s not easy to win every day, regardless of whether they give you the chance to win: I need a ‘9’ to score goals, I’m looking for the best ‘9 ‘ in the world and they bring me a ‘9’ who scores goals, but that’s difficult”, he finally qualified about the Manchester City coach.