Into the Calderón recently had the chance to speak with former Atlético de Madrid defender Toby Alderweireld, who spent the 2013/14 season in Spain before moving to the Premier League.
Alderweireld competed for his place with João Miranda and Diego Godín during his sole season in LaLiga. He made 12 appearances in the league that season, and his late header to equalize against Málaga in round 37 at Estadio Vicente Calderón set the stage for Atlético to win a miraculous league title the following week
— the club’s first since 1996.
In all, Alderweireld played 22 games for Los Rojiblancos before he completed a loan move to Southampton for the 2014/15 season. The following summer, Atleti sold him to Tottenham Hotspur, where he became a club icon over six seasons. He helped Spurs reach the 2019 UEFA Champions League final — coincidentally held in Madrid.
Below is our interview with Alderweireld, brought to you by Hajper.
Q: How was your year at Atlético Madrid? What was it like to work with Diego Simeone?
Playing for Diego Simeone was unbelievable, and you have to put it into context. I came from Ajax, a team that always had the ball and you didn’t need to defend a lot. I went to Atlético and it’s there that I learned how to really defend, and how important it is to win my duels.
Before Atlético I used to enjoy having the ball. Playing for Diego Simeone, I learned to enjoy winning a duel, winning a header, the really important things you need to know as a centre-back. When you play in that position, you need to win every duel and find joy from that side of the game.
The way he prepared his teams to play on the biggest stages, against the biggest opponents, whether it was Barcelona with Neymar and Lionel Messi, or Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, we always competed with them, and we won the league. Unfortunately, we lost in the Champions League final but it was an unbelievable experience and that’s something that I took on into the rest of my career, especially what I learned as a defender.
Q: What was the competition like for places against Miranda and Diego Godín?
We were like one family. That’s what Diego Simeone creates. You’re one of the guys so let’s compete together, and for me it was good to play every game in Ajax and then go there and see what grown-up football needs.
Atlético showed me how you need to learn, you need to look and need to train with them, because you need to understand that not playing every game is not nice, but sometimes you need this too to get better as a player.
Q: Do you wish you could have stayed at Atlético for more than that one season?
The next year it was easier to stay another year at Atlético. We’d won the league. We lost the Champions League final. I played enough games. But the Premier League was always my dream, and you never know how many times the opportunity comes.
I was confident in my abilities. I had my football education with Ajax and now I knew how to be a defender after playing for Atlético and that’s what made me ready to compete. Maybe if I had gone straight from Ajax to the Premier League, maybe I wouldn’t have coped? You never know.
It’s always easy to speak after the fact but for me that was the perfect way to enter the Premier League.
Q: Do you still follow Atleti? Are you still in touch with any teammates from that season?
Every team I played for I can honestly say that I put in 100 percent and did my best, and I loved every club that I played for, even though I only spent one year at Atlético. I always left through the front door, always keeping a good connection with the fans. I think they understood. I wanted to go to the Premier League because it was always my dream and I did my best for the club. I still follow them and their results and I hope they do better than the other clubs in Spain. That’s normal, I think.
