Enrique Cerezo moved closer to the man of the moment. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia had invited the club to La Zarzuela, the royal residence. When it came to the photo, Cerezo snuggled in closely to the big man. Diego Simeone had reinvigorated Atletico de Madrid. Everything he touches seems to be turning to gold and that means that the fans are off the President’s, Cerezo, and majority shareholder’s, Miguel Angel Gil, back.
However, it is not all-good news. This week, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport printed an interview with Simeone. In the interview El Cholo spoke about how he would love to manage in Italy. What should worry Atleico fans is that this time last year he was saying almost the exact same about Atleti when he was at Racing Club.
As a player Simeone was a no nonsense midfielder, the type fans adore and opposition players dread. He had successful spells in Italy, at Inter and Lazio, and Spain, at Sevilla and Atletico. It seems that wherever he goes, fans instantly fall in love. When he went into coaching for some it was only a matter of time before he took over the reins at the Vicente Calderon. He was successful at Estudiantes and River Plate and his stock rose. He took over at Estudiantes after a spell at Racing Club, who he would return to for six months last year, and from there went to River. After a 3-3 draw he announced he was stepping down at the Buenos Aires club but was soon back in a job with San Lorenzo de Almagro, but a year later he would leave too.
He got his first job in Europe at Italian side Catania who were stuck in the relegation zone in Serie A. His objective was to save them from relegation and he did so by winning their then highest amount of points ever in the top flight. With a year left on his contract, he bailed again and returned to Racing Club.
At Atletico the wheels were well and truly off for Gregorio Manzano. After some poor results in November, Manzano was just going through the motions. When Simeone left Racing, the board knew they had to act fast. Not since the appointment of Luis Aragones, when the club was in La Segunda, had they listened to fans when it came to management appointments. This time the fans made it very clear: Ole, Ole, Cholo Simeone!
He signed and the rest is history but there is a niggling little fact that whether they want to admit it or not is at the back of every Atletico fan’s mind. Since 2006, El Cholo has been at a different club each year, six years and seven clubs. In fact last year, he was at the helm of three clubs, he was appointed at Atletico in December. Now his comments in an Italian interview may cause fans to sit upright.
“The Italian League seduces me. I still think it is the most difficult for a Coach because teams have different styles,” he said, continuing to give his opinion on some of the sides calling Inter a strong side, Lazio a cup winner, Udinese a surprise team and Napoli a historic side. With Inter and Lazio being former clubs of the Argentine, these comments could be interpreted as a ‘come and get me’ statement.
Atletico fans and Cholo himself will play down the comments. In fact he said something similar in February this year when he faced Lazio in the Europa League, but one can’t help but remember that he made similar comments last season before he joined Los Rojiblancos. He is enjoying a very successful period at Atletico but he longs to challenge for a League title, something he will not do in Spain. This summer much has been written about the exodus of star players who want to compete in a competitive League but could Simeone be one of the first Coaches to abandon La Liga in order to challenge?
The biggest losers, should or when he goes, will be the Atletico board. A common chant at the Calderon is ‘Gil/Cerezo Cabron, fuera del Calderon’, or ‘Gil/ Cerezo you bastard, get out of the Calderon’. Since the arrival of Cholo, that chant has not been heard. The duo have hitched their wagon to the Simeone train. Should he go, they will be left in limbo with a very angry fan base to deal with. They may need to ask the King for sanctuary.
