Diego Simeone

Too bad he never became Argentina's coach !
I am sure that with him as coach, Leo would not have 0 titles with the NT.

Simeone is a pretty good at choking away finals himself. That said, his style would prob work really well in NT football.

MagIX said:

Too bad he never became Argentina's coach !
I am sure that with him as coach, Leo would not have 0 titles with the NT.

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Not so sure about that. Messi has won the Olympic football tournament back in 2008. That counts as an official NT title. Could still win a Copa América or World Cup title although it is unlikely.

Anyway while I always cheered for Argentina, whenever Spain and Italy went out, I don't think that not winning a World Cup will hurt Messi's legacy that much given how close he was and the fact that NT success (World Cup's) are not as highly rated as once. Not to mention that Messi performing for Barça is the crucial thing here. Ideally I would have wanted Messi to retire ages ago from the Argentina NT. Or at least only play in World Cup's and Copa América's ideally.

Never really cared about how many goals Messi scores for Argentina etc.

Argentina have a pretty decent team right now. Good midfielders too. Paredes and Ascacibar should both be starters. They could possibly win the Copa America this year as long as they go with Icardi, Dybala, Messi and don't call back the old guard.

DonAK said:

Argentina have a pretty decent team right now. Good midfielders too. Paredes and Ascacibar should both be starters. They could possibly win the Copa America this year as long as they go with Icardi, Dybala, Messi and don't call back the old guard.

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Not sure if those Liberman and Vignolo initiated rumors of Messi picking the team have any ground on earth. Most likely utter nonsense given Messi's personality. Sure, there likely was a hierarchy lead by the seniors but you can say the exact same thing about any team.

I doubt that they will win it. It will be played in Brazil and Brazil has a superior team. They have not won any serious trophy (WC and Copa América) since 2007 (which is a long time for Brazil) so they will be really up for it. Anyway everything can happen in a knockout competition but if I should make a guess, Messi and Argentina already blew their chances in that 3 year span between 2014 and 2016 where they and he reached 3 finals in a row, losing 1 of them in extra time and the other 2 during penalty shotouts. Messi has not had much luck in this regard but when people will study his international career more closely they will realize that he might as well have won those 3 finals. Should not impact his legacy negatively IMO. On the other hand I rate him reaching those 3 finals much higher than C. Ronaldo's absurd win with Portugal back in 2016 after going out injured in the final in the first half.

Leo_Messi said:

Been saying it for a while. Both Atlético and Simeone need new ideas but at the same time I respect this relationship and the fact that a top club in the strongest league of the world can keep a manager this long in a country that otherwise is very famous for not giving managers many seasons to work with in a row. One of the few things that I envy in regards to the EPL and how they do things there or at least used to do before the huge influx of foreigners.

Atlético being so unlike the usual Spanish top teams (other than the Valencia of the old) is also a breathe of fresh air although I won't hide the fact that I don't enjoy them at all and hate playing against them. Them choking against RM of all teams repeatedly is not helping.

Hopefully Simeone will add new traits to his managerial career and become a bit more tactically flexible. The way that he has "destroyed" creative players like Lemar and others is baffling.

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Bad move by the club. Simone has taken the club as far as he can. His style of play and intensity has clearly burnt out some players and he looks stale. Atleti ambition seems to be a top 4 finish and Cl quarter final.

Diego hope it works well for him

Would have been nice to see Simeone coaching Messi. Would have loved to see both of them celebrate together in a big game.

Hope he wins the CL with Atlético soon

Simeone should have left. Bad decision from him.

Leo_Messi said:

Been saying it for a while. Both Atlético and Simeone need new ideas

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I was thinking about that couple of years ago, but he has been able to keep them competitive for some time now even when everyone expects them to fall to mediocrity again
You also have to remember the struggles both had before they matched. Simeone had a mixed career although with some success before Atletico, while the club always struggled to find the right manager.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side, they both risk a lot of they moved on actually and could end up badly tbh.


Also, for Simeone there isn't many suitors out there?
Only PSG & Bayern can afford him in Germany or France, both teams aren't good fit for him as he is more suited for underdog type of club.
He won't join another Spanish club and in Italy he already said Inter will be the club he will manage their, but their team is awful and they don't have what it takes to make themselves appealing to him right now.
That leaves EPL, Liverpool has their manager likely for few more years, same with City (and can't see them taking Simeone right after Pep) , Chelsea is perfect fit but right now they are mess with the situation with ownership and allergy to coaching stability. Arsenal aren't going to invest like Atletico nowadays sadly. That leaves only Manu as a good destination for him to leave for another team.
Don't know, but I think there isn't a situation out there worth breaking the stable relation with Atletico

Well, Atletico is gonna break sooner or later and Simeone will be gone. Dont forget Atletico is the team with the highest debt in La liga, 740 million euros in debt from last year. Since then they've given Griezman a 20 ME/year contract and offering Oblak a contract which will make him the highest paid goalkeeper in the world. This is how Atletico has been operating since forever, making very risk moves, financially speaking. When it crumbles for them, and it will, it might be hello Segunda again

They've got Chinese money now though

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to Cholo. I admire his passion, his relationship with his players, the fact that his teams, regardless of how they are playing, almost always leave their heart and soul on the pitch, the fact that he has turned Atlético into a Spanish and European powerhouse, him giving chances to youngsters from both the academy and from abroad while having a good eye on talent etc.

On the other hand I feel that his pragmatic and overly defensive style is preventing Atlético from fulfilling their offensive potential. Evident by the many draws that Atlético has had in the league since 2014. Many of those matches should have been won on paper had Cholo chosen a more offensive and daring tactical approach.

On the other hand I would love to see if he could reinvent himself and add a more daring and offensive approach to his resume. If he could he would be one hell of a manager. Granted that is already the case but people should get the point here.

It is a paradox. Not a big fan of the style that he uses in Atlético but I very much admire and like him as a manager.

Curious to see how well he will do in the CL with the final being played at the Wanda. Kicking Juve out would be a tremendous start to the knockout stage.

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I think his football philosophy did make him so great, if he would suddendly start to play more offensive football, he would lose his signature, that atletico side at their peak was just art of defending, even if you dont like that style, you have to appriciate such dedication from the players in the match, and cholo did that as a player and now as a coach

Would he won cl final if he had more offensive approach? Dont know, maybe he wouldnt play in cl final without his style of play, and atletico would be just average attacking team, like roma, arsenal, tottenham, napoli...