Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has given an interview to Canal + in which he says winning is not just about playing well.
The Argentine also gave a frank assessment of his team’s strengths and weaknesses and told of what motivates his players, particularly in finals, and the way in which he sees football.
“Winning is not only due to playing well but understanding each other and how you compete,” maintained Simeone.
“We know we are worse than other teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona because of the players they have. We know who we are and that’s our strength. The day we think we are the best teams will start to score four against us.
“I know that my players will play well in finals, because finals are to die for and my players will die for me, because they don’t fear death.
“The truth is that we have many people who are similar. They will not fail because they are competitive. We put over an idea and we are lucky to have the guys who carry it out.”
El Cholo also referred to Atleti’s style of play, which this season has been based more on possession than last term.
“We have more possession this year. Everybody likes it but I don’t like it so much as I think it makes your opponent feel more comfortable.
“If possession hurts teams then I love it, but it’s like action movies or love – I prefer action.”
Simeone believes the most important thing is the players and it is they who make good coaches or bad coaches.
“As coaches we were better footballers. Guardiola told me he didn’t know how lucky he was to have players who like to play with the ball.
“That’s great because the essence of the game is to find guys who want to win, who want to train, who want to play, who want to compete,” he explained.
