Friday’s pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s La Liga game against Getafe sparked an angry reaction from Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone, as he was asked about comments from Julián Alvarez regarding his future following the team’s midweek win over Tottenham.
When asked again about the striker, Simeone responded with great frustration.
“Look, I understand all your questions and I hope you’ll understand the tone of what I’m about to say,” he said. “I’m not speaking to the journalists; I’m speaking to our people:
we beat Brugge 4-1 and the man of the match was Oblak because he’d saved a shot, two absolutely crucial saves, but the team had taken a back seat because we’d won 4-1, and the coverage among all of you, among the majority, was that Oblak made an extraordinary save and saved the match for us.
“We won the match against Barcelona 4-0, but the big story and the front-page headlines were all about Griezmann, how he might leave, he might stay, he’s in the process of possibly leaving Atlético Madrid, but Griezmann is with us, he’s staying and he’s going to the final.
“Julián Alvarez made some sensible comments the other day, where I think all our lives are about day-to-day life and people are judged on what they give you, and Julián Alvarez is giving us a lot.
“So, the match against Bruges, we won 4-1, and everything was based on Oblak and his save from their attack, the match against Barcelona, we won 4-0 and it was all down to Griezmann leaving, the match against Tottenham, we won 5-2, all down to Julián Alvarez,” Simeone said. “But what I say to our fans is that we’re doing well; I said we’d be competitive when the season started and we’re going to be competitive.”
Diego Simeone on Marcos Llorente
“Well, the truth is that Marcos is a very important player for us. I think that ever since the year we won La Liga and managed to find a position where he could play to his full potential, he did us a world of good in that league-winning campaign, playing as a central midfielder and on the right. From then on, we saw that he could help us in other positions to keep improving as a team and for him to improve as a player, and I think he’s maturing very well as a footballer. And well, hopefully he can maintain the level he’s at because he’s very good for us and for the Spanish national team.”
Simeone on Pablo Barrios and his injury
“He’s fantastic. He’s counting down the days until he can be back with us. Let’s hope it’s as short a time as possible, and I imagine and hope he’ll be fit for the Copa del Rey final.”
Simeone on Álex Baena
“He’s an extraordinary player. Obviously, we’ve spoken about this on several occasions. We need his game tempo to pick up, and when his game tempo picks up, he’s a game-changer. Why? Because he can play in many positions, as we’ve already discussed: central midfield, left wing, inside forward, attacking midfielder. And he makes a difference. It all depends on him, and I have no doubt he’ll continue to deliver great things for us.”
Simeone on Apollo Sports Capital
“The truth is I haven’t seen much of them. I have heard about Apollo and their arrival, though. A warm welcome to absolutely everyone who is joining us to keep improving Atlético Madrid, so that Atlético Madrid can continue to grow as it has over the last 15 or 16 years. And hopefully we can all keep making Atlético Madrid even better than it is today.”
Simeone on Marc Pubill’s quick adaptation
“I think he’s worked very hard since he arrived, with great humility and a real desire to earn his place. We spoke clearly with him from day one about how he’d joined the team, and since then, the truth is he’s improved enormously. He’s helping us a great deal. We need him just as he is, and he has room for improvement; that room for improvement will be linked to his humility, his work ethic and his desire to grow.”
Simeone on Matteo Ruggeri
“Matteo is developing; he’s gone from strength to strength this season, adapting to the new league and to a different role compared to how he played at Atalanta with his team. I think his development is going very well and he has an even brighter future ahead.”
Simeone on Getafe
“A very tough match, a tricky match, a match where we need to know the opponent we’re up against. They’re coming off the back of a very good run, having won important matches deservedly through their play. And we’ll have to take the game where we think we can hurt them.”
Simeone on José Bordalás’s work at Getafe
“I think Getafe have been improving for a couple years now, not just this year. I believe they’ve improved in previous years too; their players have improved, and because the players have improved, a manager like Bordalás has better tools to create what he needs, and these lads are putting that into practice in the best possible way today.”
Simeone on Sørloth’s place in the starting line-up in big games
“I don’t know which games are big for you, I don’t know which games are big for Sørloth. For me, every game is a big one.”
