Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone says that he would never coach cross-city rivals Real Madrid.
Simeone was speaking to Argentine radio station Rock & Closs during which he also revealed the keys to Atleti’s success since he took charge at the Vicente Calderon.
“I would never coach Real Madrid because I’m sentimental about the old things. I must be mad but it lives in my heart what I feel for this football club,” said Simeone, who refused to disclose too much of what the future holds for him.
“I have a contract until the end of the season and if you know me then you know I go on feelings. At the moment I feel good and I hope we can continue game by game, achieving what I’ve always wanted for Atletico.”
The Argentine unsurprisingly had words of praise for striking sensation Radamel Falcao when asked about the Colombian international.
“Radamel excites you. All that happens with him is not accidental. He looks for things, he wants things and he trains to be the best. I think he knows that this is an important time and I am convinced that right now he is at a club that is stronger than any other.
“I’m not thinking of when he will go. It’s like anything else in that you have to enjoy it, live it, and whatever else happens will happen.
“When you analyse if he will go, when he will go, if he will be sold, then these are all suppositions. Is there a replacement for him? He is different from the rest. He is a predator, aggressive, committed to working for the team…a very complete player.
“Obviously, knowing his potential he is somebody who will improve on his weaknesses because he knows what he is good at and what he is bad at. That is a great strength Falcao has.”
Simeone then evaluated Atletico’s season so far and what it is that has made his team tick.
“The credit goes to the players and we have taken advantage of the different characteristics they possess. What we have is a strong squad, which is shown by the way in which we have scored goals.
“We know how we want to play and what we can do. Diego [on loan last year from Wolfsburg] was different from the players we have now.
“Today we have more goals in us as Raul Garcia has come back from Osasuna and because [Diego] Costa stayed before [Eduardo] Salvio left, which gives Falcao and Adrian [Lopez] many more goalscoring opportunities.
“We lost a player like Diego so we put together a team based on what we had and have also strengthened. I think this team understands the way the Coach thinks.
“Players don’t have games in front of them if they don’t have minutes in front of them and matches are not planned according to who starts. We get by based on this and I think they are interpreting it in the best way possible.”
Lastly, he was asked about Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova.
“I like him. I think he has changed from the proposed structure. For example, in the Sevilla-Barcelona match they were losing 2-0 and he looked at different changes, putting on Thiago [Alcantara] for [Sergio] Busquets and positioning Pedro at right-back as he sought to win the game.
“It has allowed him to have an incredible start. Games in which they have struggled a little have changed their stability a bit, but he has played to win and that to me is respectable and different to what we have seen before.”
