Quique Setién: "I told Simeone that I don't like how his team plays"
The Real Betis coach has added a sprinkle of spice to Sunday's match against Atlético with his fondness for insulting Los Colchoneros' style of play.
Quique Setién’s tendancy to aim digs at Diego Simeone adds a touch of spice to the LaLiga match between Real Betis and Atlético Madrid on Sunday.
Setién more Menotti than Bilardo
At the end of the 2016-17 season, Setién was open in his criticism of Simeone’s style of play, including to the Argentine’s face.
“Simeone’s Atlético play like him. I told that to Cholo: I love what you do, the titles, what you have achieved… but I don’t like how your team plays,” jabbed the 59-year-old.
Setién continued to discuss Simeone’s tactics after Betis fell to a 3-6 home defeat to counter-attack specialists Valencia in October. In an attempt to justify his team’s open approach, Setién launched a counter of his own.
“There are a lot of ways to lose, I’ve seen teams this week that have held on to a 1-0 lead without going forward and in the end that have conceded an equaliser,” he said in a thinly-veiled reference to Barcelona’s late leveler at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Setién has struggled to beat Simeone
Despite his dislike for El Cholo’s style of play, Setién has found it difficult to get the better of him from the dugout. He managed Las Palmas against Atlético on five occasions, with only one of those (a Copa del Rey tie in January 2017) resulting in victory.
The last match between the two managers ended as a 5-0 victory for Atleti in April 2017, by which point the wheels were coming off Setién’s project on Gran Canaria.
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