Diego Pablo Simeone, coach of Atlético, spoke to the media before the match against Valladolid. The technician is at your disposal from Thursday to Memphis Depay —for lack of officiality and that it is registered in LaLiga— j also restores Carrasco, who trained with the group. Giménez was the only one absent from the session and Savic and Reguilón will miss the match due to suspension. The coach appreciates the team’s momentum.
What do you expect from Memphis?
A player arrives with great enthusiasm and wants to restore his best version. We will work so that we can meet the Lyon football player, there he demonstrated all his physical strength and abilities. We will work with him to get him into his best shape so that he can give us back what we want from him.
How does he fit into the team?
Like a striker who can play first striker or second striker. I see him similar to Costa, a striker who started second point, on the outside, but finished on top because he is explosive, strong, well defined… Memphis has shown, especially in France, in his first year at Barça. .. that he has good grades.
How do you see the last piece of the market? Do you want it to stop?
Like always waiting for it to be over and with the possibility that there is always, with the good players we have, for any situation to happen. The club works according to what the team needs.
Do you think it could affect Carrasco’s performance? Are you giving the go-ahead for your summer departure?
That question is more for him. I go according to what I see in training. Yannick has always shown us good versions and hopefully he will keep it up.
How important is Nahuel in the selection?
Yes, we don’t have another winger in the squad, although we have Sergio, from B, joining us. We tried it with Marcos but you are the first ones who don’t like to see him there, neither do I, it’s good for the team to be further down the line. It’s what we have. We deal with the situations that arise accordingly. Nahuel has always played, he has hardly had any rest and it’s a position we’ve struggled a bit with.
Do you feel that players are less ambitious than before and quickly seek new challenges?
Opportunities have arisen, or more importantly for football players, they feel relevant, comfortable and good where they are. Opportunities appear and the players try to solve them as they see fit. Some don’t leave even if they don’t play and others want to play, fight and change a bad moment and believe they can make it in other teams. Some stay to stay and others seek their best version.
The other day I talked about ‘dedication’. Do you get the best version of some players?
What we need is the dedication of the game. We didn’t have a good time in the first half, we talked at half time and we saw that the team didn’t play well, not because of the system, but because we didn’t play football, we didn’t show what hierarchy the players have. In the second, a different face was seen. I see that since the World Cup there is an intention here to turn situations around, like against Levante. I hope people are close to the team, they are tired, with efforts every three days. No one cares, but it is what it is. We need the people. The managers have to be close, the coaching staff, give the best of themselves and the players too.
Does the Memphis-Carrasco operation solve one problem now, but will it create another problem for the summer?
The club works from the present and the future. If the Carrasco thing happens or not, I’m not quite sure if he will have to, if he stays… We have players who are in other places and are doing very well and the club works knowing that the future is there, in players who can do it very well.
Is it a key game to confirm the improvement?
Valladolid is not accompanied by the results related to the football they practice and what they propose with this coach. A football with a lot of people trying to make things happen offensively. For our part, to get closer to what we were in the second half against Levante and much of the game in Almería. The team plays well when it plays and if it gives its maximum it can put on great games.