Diego Simeone addresses competition for places before Real Oviedo encounter

Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone spoke to the media ahead of his team’s LaLiga match against Real Oviedo at the Estadio Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Saturday night. Simeone highlighted a number of topics, including the competition for places — particularly in goal, where Juan Musso has impressed in wins over Getafe and Inter Milan.

The coach was asked whether Musso’s form could be Jan Oblak’s most serious challenge since he took the position as his own.

“Well, I’m not going to go back to previous years and the guys who have preceded Juan Musso, but I will talk about Juan, whose personality, presence, camaraderie, and positive energy since his first minute at Atlético Madrid has been valuable,” Simeone said. “Last season, when he played, he did so with personality and did what we believe he should do, and now he is performing at a very good level in the games he has played, and that’s very good for Oblak and for the team.”

Diego Simeone on Jan Oblak’s fitness

“He trained quite well today, so we’ll see tomorrow morning with the training we have planned, and then decide whether he starts or Juan Musso continues.”

Diego Simeone on managing minutes and internal competition

“Well, the words ‘they won’t get any minutes’ is for if they don’t get any minutes. Be careful with your words because words become part of the record. The reality is that the minutes they get are what the team needs and what the coach decides they can compete for.

“I’m very happy with everyone’s work. Here we need to field the team we think will be best to get through tomorrow’s game, and we’re going to work accordingly. (The players) know that when they sign a contract with a club like Atlético de Madrid, they come to compete. And competing means participating, (sometimes) not participating, having more minutes, having fewer minutes, and in the end, the famous phrase ‘quality over quantity’ is still decisive. But we need everyone. That’s clear because we have four competitions ahead of us and it’s clear that we’re going to need everyone’s effort.”

Diego Simeone on Johnny Cardoso’s performance against Inter

“Well, I imagine he thought he wasn’t going to play and found himself in a situation where he had to start the game, and he did so in line with what we were looking for from Johnny as a player. We trust him, we believe in him, and we hope he can prove everything we’re talking about with his actions, and the pitch will speak for itself.”

Diego Simeone on Atlético’s current form

“The truth is that I don’t dwell on those thoughts. We take each day as it comes, each game as it comes, and we’re going to face a team that has grown in recent games with the arrival of their new coach, who has a fairly bold approach, and I can’t imagine any other situation in which they have competed. Above all, I’m thinking of the last two games, in Bilbao and against Rayo Vallecano, where they competed very well. And we’ll have to take the game to where we think we can hurt them.”

Diego Simeone on goals from set pieces

“Set pieces are important, they’re important for all teams. It’s clear that we need to work on them and improve, because we have good shooters and good aerial threats. And hopefully we can continue to evolve, as we have in the last two games in particular, where we’ve had more chances in that area.”

Diego Simeone on areas for improvement

“Well, we haven’t played the game we’re going to face on Saturday yet. But anyway, we’re talking about it, not in training, but showing the team images of situations to improve. We try to make the most of the little time we have between games. And well, let’s hope tomorrow will be an important game.”