Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone spoke ahead of Saturday’s LaLiga clash with Valencia, which comes after one of the team’s best performances this season against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
When asked about how he works with his players to build trust amid a packed fixture list, Simeone opined “I think coaches always think positively about our players, why? Because they are the ones who end up developing our thoughts, even though they may have better moments, worse moments.
“They may trust what you convey to them more or less, but that’s part of life,” Simeone said. “I think relationships are the same, just like you have friendships that wear out over time, couples, over time, may also wear out, and it’s the trust you have in each other.”
Diego Simeone on PSV
“I really liked the team’s collective performance, the effort, the number of challenges they made. That allowed us to take time away from them, especially against an opponent with very good offensive characteristics. And that’s why I’m praising the players for the game they played. Now we have to think about Valencia, a brave team that has a lot of speed up front and has been changing the way they play. We’ll see if they play like they have been lately or like they did for much of last season. They have a coach who has brought positive things to the team since he arrived. We’ll have to take the game to where we think we can hurt them.”
Diego Simeone on giving Sørloth more minutes
“The truth is that I base my decisions on the players I have in the squad and what the opponent offers, what the opponent has. Not all games are the same and, obviously, it’s very important that all the players are at their best so that, when they’re needed, they can help the team.”
Diego Simeone on a coach’s personality and loyalty to his ideas
“You know I never comment on what others think, I have my own opinion. I’m here thanks to the players, absolutely. My greatest gratitude and fortune in these 14 years is to have players who have bought into an idea and a plan and have executed it to the best of their ability. If there’s one thing I have, it’s that I’ve had tremendous support, mainly from the players, who are the most important part of my time at the club, for sure.”
Diego Simeone on the key to maintaining consistency
“Being consistent.”
Diego Simeone on the relationship of trust between coach and players
“The players need to trust the work the coach is giving them because they are the ones who end up reflecting it. We can believe in the players, but then the players can’t represent that. But if the players believe in the coach’s work, they are the ones who are actually going to represent it. And here we always say, we have good ideas, good thoughts. Almost all coaches continue to think that we are very similar. The difference is always the players. Always.”
