“Diego Simeone is such an established part of top-level European football that you sometimes forget how unusual his tenure is. Approaching 15 years in charge of Atletico Madrid, ‘only’ winning two league titles doesn’t quite summarise his considerable impact on European football, and the extent to which he has overachieved in a division that had become a two-horse race. Atletico had spent the previous decade as a mid-table side in La Liga, even dropping into Spain’s second tier for a couple of seasons. It is one of the most impressive dynasties in the modern game, and all the more special because of something we all know, but take for granted: Simeone is South American. For all the South American playing talent in European football over the decades, it’s very rare for a South American manager or head coach to succeed in Europe. …”
NYT/ATH