Diego Simeone defended underperforming Antoine Griezmann and praised his teams ability to remain in the game until the end after Saturday afternoon’s late 1-0 win away to Deportivo La Coruna.
“What gave us the chance to win the game was staying in it until the last minute,” Simeone said. “Until the final minute it was clear that a chance would come. The dead ball came, something we needed, and Thomas scored a great goal.
“We have not lost yet [in La Liga]. Only points Valencia have dropped at home were to us. Only points Barca have dropped were to us too. If we have 23 points, and Griezmann has just scored two goals, that is a good sign.”
Griezmann, a €100 million target for Manchester United last summer, has just three goals in total all season and has not scored in his last seven club outings.
Simeone said the tactical decision to replace the forward with the versatile Gimenez, who went into a midfield holding role, had worked as planned.
“Griezmann is one of the players on our team, a good player for our team,” he said. “I wanted to strengthen the team [with the substitution]. [Depor] were almost playing with four forwards and our team was starting to break up. I thought that by strengthening the centre we would have a better chance. It went as I had hoped.”
“You always feel better after winning, but clearly we need to improve,” he said. “And we will improve, for sure, with the path we are on. By making this effort, you improve. And I have a very committed team. When they played like this, after the blow on Tuesday, I am proud of them, nothing more.
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