Atletico Madrid Manager Diego Simeone has claimed that footballers need to be more responsible for their own growth. The Argentine Manager is now approaching 12 years in the job, and says that getting a footballer to understand that has been crucial to their success.
During a recent interview with Marca, Simeone highlighted that keeping players happy is the trickiest part of his job, rather than finding tactical solutions.
“Absolutely the emotional part is the one that needs to be balanced the most. The starters they believe they are the king of the world, they leave the eleven and the player wants to leave, it comes back to the coach, he does not play me, he does not speak to me. You can’t talk to your child every day.”
However Simeone sees his job as as course correction, rather than nitpicking over every detail.
“You correct him, you give him a line of work, but you have to let him grow. The footballers must work, earn their place, suffer, from there they enjoy, then they will understand what Atletico is. It is our way of relating to them. From there they will understand what Atletico is and the reason why we have done well for so long. We have not changed the way we relate to the footballer.”
No doubt on the touchline, Simeone can seem rather precise with his ‘requests’, but from a macro viewpoint, no doubt he is correct. On an anecdotal level, an outwardly happy dressing seems as if it is more likely to have success rather than one that is unhappy but set up to perfection tactically. Of course football and people do not lend themselves to such static emotions, but it does seems a common theme.
