Diego Pablo Simeone always remembers that Luis Aragonés was a transcendental character when he signed as Atlético de Madrid player. He was his coach at Sevilla in the 1993/94 season when he briefed the Hortaleza manager on the rojiblanco club’s offer. Simeone sought advice from someone who knew Atlético firsthand and what he found was the definitive boost. “But what are you waiting for to go there?” snapped Aragonés. This Saturday, almost 30 years after this episode that began writing the ingrained and passionate story of Simeone and Atlético, the Argentine coach will surpass Aragonés as the coach who has managed the most games (612) for Atlético. He will do it by chance against Sevilla (9pm, Movistar LaLiga). For the occasion, El Cholo wrote an emotional letter to Luis Aragonés and published it on his social networks this Friday at 19:03. The numerology of the hour matches that of the club’s founding year: 1903.
Simeone begins the letter by talking to Aragonés about you, as he used to address his footballers. “You know I don’t get much out of showing feelings of this kind in public, but today I want to do it. I want to do it to tell you that I am beginning this letter with almost tears in my eyes and a tremendous feeling of emotion, but above all respect. It’s hard for me to believe tomorrow [por este sábado] I will exceed the number of games, 612, that we share today to referee our beloved Atleti,” the letter begins.
Simeone’s milestone comes in what is arguably his worst season at Atlético since joining the bench in December 2011. The team is in the fight for the championship title off the hook, they were eliminated from the Champions League as the group bottom. leaving him without a chance to return to the Europa League and his figure has been questioned internally and externally like never before. For Simeone, the tone of the letter is a claim that is not result-oriented, but one of identification and feeling towards the club. “I wanted to tell you that over the years I’ve just tried to do my best. They know me and know that my responsibility and commitment are the greatest things in my life,” he says. Aragonés never managed Simeone to Atlético, but the year they coincided in Seville made them related.
The Madrid coach predicted he would become coach but reminded him that he was the one giving the game orders. And he amused himself with a sentence that Simeone recited in his early days as Atlético coach: “I’m going crazy, but I’m still alive from the heart.” A living Atlético legend, Simeone has on occasion pointed out the vertigo caused by feeling responsible for the fortunes or misfortunes of the Red and White fans. After returning to the front row of world football with two league titles, two European leagues, two European Super Cups and one from Spain, a Copa del Rey and two lost Champions League finals, the club has totemized itself in front of mattress society. She is also credited in the letter as fundamental to the team’s success in a period of civil war in the Metropolitan stands.
The silence during home games this season and the disagreements in the stands about his figure bother him. Not because of him, who knows that a large majority of Atlético fans still support him, but because the team generally feeds on the biorhythms of the stands. In the Metropolitano’s last game against Athletic, Simeone was seen disapproving of the social rift and shaking his head as part of the fans kicked off the other. As a rojiblanco icon, Simeone feels responsible for collecting wills. In his recent appearances before the press, he has not stopped calling for social peace and unity, and in the letter to Aragonés he insisted again. “Luis, my philosophy on the four legs (fans, leaders, players and coaches) continues stronger than ever because it is thanks to all of them that we are here today,” he writes.
Already in the last paragraph, El Cholo dares to address Aragonés by their first names. “I know that Atleti was your life and you know that Atleti is mine too. That’s why I didn’t want to let this moment go unnoticed because I know that today only you can understand me.”
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.