Fernando Torres Believes Diego Simeone Will Remain Atlético Boss For a While
Atletico Madrid legend Fernando Torres has expressed his belief in coach Diego Simeone, suggesting that the manager still has a long future at the club.
Contrary to Torres' comments, Simeone actually shortened his contract at Atleti after losing out to Real Madrid once again in the 2016 Champions League final. The Argentine's amended contract means that his time with the robust La Liga outfit will end at the conclusion of this coming season.
Torres however is confident that Simeone will renew his commitment to the club. Speaking to Omnisport (via FourFourTwo), Torres said: "Everybody knows what he is expecting from us, everybody. He is very good at communicating to everybody what he wants – the tactics, about the team, about the individual, about everything.
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"I think he is very happy here and he wants to stay more time, that's very important for the players."
"Hopefully we can keep the key players, we can keep the manager and that will show everybody that we want to do better and we want more."
"He's very intense. You remember him as a player, he's very similar as a coach. He wants everybody to stay focused in training, in meetings, on our travels – all the time."
"He is very clever. He knows we need this intensity to be able to compete against teams who are much better than us. He is showing that the way he is training is being effective."
"We are competing with these kind of teams. All we have to do is follow him because he has shown the world he is a good leader for us."
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The former Liverpool striker suggested that Atletico's FIFA summer transfer ban is a challenge as opposed to a limitation, saying: "We know this season is even more difficult because we have this FIFA ban that we can't sign players,
"It is a good chance for everybody to show that the team is good enough. We were playing in the Champions League semi-final last season so we have to think that this season we can do better.
"Also in the league, it was a difficult beginning for us last season. We lost so many points we could not fight against Real Madrid and Barcelona for the league. With a better start we feel we can do even better in the league as well this season, so it's looking good."
Torres was on the score sheet as Atletico beat Napoli 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, with the La Liga playing Liverpool on Wednesday night.
