Diego Simeone admitted he understood why Atletico Madrid fans booed him for substituting Yannick Ferreira Carrasco against Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
The Coach came under fire from a section of Los Colchoneros supporters for his decision to take off the winger, but – while agreeing the Belgian “played well” – he was delighted to have kept on Antoine Griezmann, who ultimately scored a 93rd-minute winner in a 1-0 victory for his side.
“I forgot a word which also has a lot to do with Atleti’s history the other day [at his Press conference] – insistence,” he said after the game.
“This was a key word in the context of the match. I prefer to say we insisted rather than suffered.
“It was a tough match, played well by our opponents, but Atletico never stopped insisting, with good play at times, trying to break out and win the second ball.
“I haven’t minded the difficulty of our recent games because football games aren’t easy to win.
“Since the match against Real Sociedad, we’ve played six, won four and drawn two.
“It’s also evident that we’ve conceded very few goals in that time. It becomes harder to win each day.
“[On Koke being substituted], he played well and is essential for the squad’s balance and set-pieces.
“[On being booed for taking off Carrasco], it made sense because he was playing well, but luckily I listened to my intuition because the change was going to be for Griezmann, and in the end he was the one who gave us the victory.
“I think the game was intense because of the need to win. I’d be concerned if the team didn’t play with the insistence they had.
“I’d also be worried if I’d not celebrated the goal as I did, just as if [Jesus] Gamez hadn’t played well.
“The essence of a team can’t be changed. A team can be changed, depending on the players that are available, but the essence is non-negotiable.”
