Atlético de Madrid manager Diego Pablo Simeone praised his team’s “great concentration” in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Girona FC and welcomed the fact that they have “important players” this season who can provide “solutions”, including Julián Álvarez, “an incredible footballer for the present and the future”.
“We were up against an opponent who had an extraordinary season last season and who knows how to play very well with different ways of attacking. I value concentration, calmness and never losing the block that did not allow them to have the goal-scoring situations that they normally generate and our goal evidently generated more security for what was to come in the second half,” said Simeone in a press conference.
‘Cholo’ believes that the advantage allowed him to “manage the second half from start to finish” “with a lot of defensive security and above all with a strong, fast counterattack.” “The players who came off the bench gave us what we were lacking in the match, such as Reinildo defensively, such as Gallagher. So I’m left with a lot of positive things, a lot of balance and I think that allowed us to have a good game against a great rival,” he warned.
The Argentine coach did not want to give importance to not making mistakes because “there are always these in football” and stressed that “teams that manage to have balance and that this happens less often, have more chances of winning.”
On an individual level, he praised Pablo Barrios and Marcos Llorente. “When we saw him, we understood that everything that is happening to him could happen to him. We are very happy that he won the Olympic gold playing as a central midfielder because he can do it. As an inside midfielder, he is an important player, who has a good game, vision, attacks and good pressure, and we need him to remain calm, to know that his teammates will help him to continue growing and that he cannot slow down,” he said of the youth team player.
Regarding the versatile player, he stressed that “he can clearly play in the middle,” but that they need to “exploit all of his physical potential, both in attack and defensively.” “And this invites us to see Molina improve and rebel and show that he is a world champion and a Copa America champion because we need competition and because Llorente will not always be able to play at the same pace,” he said.
“Depending on what the matches ask of us, depending on what we interpret from what we are going to face, and always looking to compete in the best way,” he replied about the possibility of making more rotations due to the size of the squad. “We have important players, players who have arrived who can give us solutions, young players who are very excited and we will have to manage it in the best way,” he added.
Simeone made it clear that all his players “know” that they want to “win” and that the coaching staff “always” seeks what they believe is “best for the team.” “Obviously, I can be wrong, but from that point on I have no commitment to anyone, to anyone, and I want to see what I saw today, a team that starts strong, that controls the game well,” he said.
“Having five changes can give us the opportunity to win the championship and continue playing with important players like we have and who contribute to the good of what matters to us all, which is the team,” said the coach of the Colchonero team.
Regarding Julián Álvarez’s debut, he did not hide the fact that “important footballers obviously demand that things happen.” “People go to the pitch to watch them and obviously to create situations. We know what Julián has, we know everything he can give us and we will try to exploit his best qualities, whether as a first striker, as a second or playing on the wing,” he said.
“We are convinced that we have a player for the present and for the future, an incredible one. And as Antoine (Griezmann) rightly says, we lack connection and that will be given to us by the game, the matches, the training sessions. Julián arrived recently and that will be given to us by time,” he concluded of the striker.