Simeone sees room for improvement

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone claims his team is having an ‘average’ season, despite sitting just one point behind rivals Real Madrid.

After watching his side keep the pressure La Liga’s second-placed team with a 2-0 victory at Osasuna on Sunday – a result that ended a run of three matches without a win – Simeone claimed his team is capable of much better.

“Next we have a tough match at home against Valencia and we have to think about that, not further, because we have been doing average this season,” the Argentine said.

“We have to be competitive and we have to do as we have done today because the match wasn’t easy for us.

“You have to know how to play on this pitch and if you didn’t do that you would get a worse result. We were clever making our chances in the first half, then in the second if we scored our chances we would close the match better.”

The coach was pleased, however, with the contribution of Brazilian striker Diego Costa, who scored both his club’s goals as he prepares to depart for his first stint with the Brazil squad this week.

And Simeone said the 24-year-old is capable of big things if he stays focused.

“He has to keep growing up,” Simeone said,

“He is a good fit, although today he played a bit on the left side and he did well too.

“Hopefully he will be able to grow up as a player because he is really young and he has a lot of room to get better.”