Filipe Luis: "It's stupid to discuss Simeone"

Within days of turning 34, Filipe Luis went to win the Copa América last summer without hurry to decide his future. Without a contract for the first time in his life, he thought he could choose between following a ninth season at Atlético, where he was the protagonist of a glorious stage and is the second foreigner with the most matches (333) in history, or sign for one of the Champions champions who had been interested in him in the previous months: Barça, Juve, PSG, Dortmund ... But no. "Surely I was wrong to wait so long. That said that football is moments is a truth like a temple and I let mine pass in Europe." From one day to the next, he saw himself changing plans and returning home to Brazil to sign for Flamengo. "It's not what I wanted then, but now I wouldn't want anything else." Why? On Saturday, the Rio de Janeiro team will play the final of the Libertadores before River Plate 38 years later (it won its only title in 1981).

You left Brazil with 19 years, have you found it weird to come back? What is going on, it's being a dream because when sports are going so well, everything is easier. I did not expect, really. I lived the best years in the history of Atleti and now I arrive and in five months I am living one of the best moments in the history of Flamengo. And in my year at Chelsea, we won the premiere. I've put my grain of sand, but I'm very lucky. It's a pride. But leaving Europe was not an A.No. I returned to Brazil prepared for the worst. I thought I was going to suffer a lot and that the change would be difficult to assimilate. Although here we have a great team with very important players, I was convinced that I was going to miss Europe, that maybe it was a step back. But I forced myself to be positive and from the beginning things went well. Everything seems perfect now, even the bad fields in which we play or the fans, which is so demanding that it whistles at any moment. I am living it as a positive experience. Is there as much difference in quality between both continents as we believe here? The soccer player is the same everywhere. It is a matter of adapting to the environment. Just like when you go to England you know that you cannot throw yourself because they are not going to whistle, in Brazil you know that the game is of quality but less intense. Coming from Simeone, that at first costs, but neither is learning quantum physics. You get used to it. It is very different, no doubt, but the players are not worse. Change the style, not the talent. After eight years with Simeone and an intermediate with Mourinho, now Jorge Jesus trains you, who is a technician of a diametrically opposite style, much more offensive. That change is not easy because they are totally different ideas. But at the same time it is useful, because I am 34 years old, my plan is to be a coach and the more different things I learn, the better. I had nine years with the idea of ​​going backwards, not forward. Close spaces and wait for your moment. Discovering at my age another football is phenomenal to write in my notebook: I learned from Cholo, from Mourinho, now from Jorge Jesus ... The best teachers to be a more complete coach. Be honest, what style do you like best? Every player likes to propose, to go out playing, to have possession ... That is what we do in Flamengo and I love it, of course, but football has no absolute truths. As a player, this amuses me more. As a coach and as a winner, it would be stupid to discuss the Cholo model. What does Brazil now offer so that an elite player returns? Money. Here there are 10 or 12 large teams that are required to be champions at the beginning of the season, have a huge number of partners and most have cleared their accounts in recent years. For example, Flamengo has 150,000 members. These teams can pay at the European level or more, in some cases. Sao Paulo brought Dani Alves and Juanfran. Corinthians, Palmeiras ... If you have money, you will attract players. That is drawer. Anyway, what makes an insurmountable difference is the Champions League. All players want to play it, even if it is losing money. It is not to belittle the Liberators, of course, but it is the best competition in the world by far. It will never change. Are you sad to see the Champions on TV? Yes, I know I could still be playing at that level. It is the moment when I miss Atleti the most. There is nothing like playing a Champions League game, it is the competition of excellence. I have that thorn stuck, I have seen that trophy so close twice that I have not yet given up winning it. If it has not been as a player, it will be as a coach. I'm going to chase her all my life. Are you watching Atlético? Virtually every game. And you were waiting for this very dubious start? Yes. With so many changes it was inevitable. Especially with the march of Godín. Players thus define a team, because Cholo develops a plan, but then you have to develop it according to the opponent and how the game goes. Soccer players like him, or Tiago and Gabi before, are able to correct mistakes from within the field that Cholo cannot from the bench. That is differential. When you have such a new team, you need time to get certain players to understand the system so well that you can do that. But the Atleti will be fine. Almost every season with Simeone we start regular and he knows how to correct with many videos, it is very didactic. As their concepts are very clear, understanding and solving errors is simpler. They will do it and they will go up. It has happened to us every year. Everyone. Isn't soccer leadership overrated, often putting character at the height of talent? The issue is that we had leaders who were also fantastic soccer players. But the character of a team shows a lot in the field. Cholo lived it as a player and has always empowered him as a coach. I have seen Tiago win a match simply by indicating a slight variation of positions. Intelligence is never overrated. And the leadership is that the companions respect you and understand that if Godín or Tiago advise you something, you pay attention to them. Atleti is still looking for that now. Was it a bad idea, then, to let so many veterans leave at once? It was inevitable. This change of guard at the Atleti was superimportant and necessary, both for the club and for ourselves. Change renews the illusion. Cycles exist and, even if we don't want to, there is a certain distaste without changes. It was time to change and let players like Koke or Diego Costa, who are from the beginning, be the ones who earn the respect to lead a new cycle of successes.For the coach also the cycles end? It is different. It is also difficult, but the Cholo is renewed more than it seems. He has been changing the speech, the ways of communicating and correcting, he is always analyzing football ... A coach can renew himself more than a player. I've seen him change many things in his way of watching football. I remember that at first he was angry that Arda and I combined a lot in the band and were not more direct, but over time he knew how to see the utility. He is always learning. A coach can be many years in a club, but for a player it is very difficult to be with the same coach for many years. Did you have the exit of the Atlético you would have liked? They were difficult times. It was the first time in my career that I was without a contract, not knowing what would happen to me. It created a terrible insecurity, I didn't even know if I was going to continue playing football and that scared me. In the end it was all too rushed, but the respect of Atlético and, above all, of Miguel Ángel Gil was enormous. The truth is that I did not expect it. Why? Because twice I left or wanted to leave. I went to Chelsea and, in 2018, I had the PSG episode. It could have happened that they didn't want to give me a farewell tribute, but it was Michelangelo himself who insisted on riding it. It was wonderful and I will always appreciate it. It was a priority for me to go well and leave the Atleti doors open to return in the future. Would you have wanted to continue another year? Seeing it from now on, I think that the departure was the best for everyone, but during those last months I constantly changed my mind . There were times when I did believe that I could continue another year at the Atleti; Suddenly, I picked up a bit of rhythm and thought that two better, but then I was injured and did not see myself physically to be at that level. In the end I left it to the club: to do their planning, see how they wanted to strengthen my position and talk when it was clear. And we agreed that our story had come to an end. Curiously, the left side is the only one that is not folded in the current squad. As you look at it, you can also think that there are three. I believe that the planning was always Lodi's headline, Beautiful in the role of Lucas when you need more containment and Saul as a resource for the moments you want to push. The position is very well covered. What do you think about Lodi, your compatriot and substitute? I didn't see Leverkusen's game, which I think was worse, but in general I've seen him frankly well. You have to let go a little more, because being so young and in a new team you are just waiting to obey everything the coach tells you and you play with the handbrake on, but it has conditions to be the best in the world. A lot of quality with the ball, great power, a spectacular center ... The start of Joao Felix has been irregular. It is always said that it is very difficult to adapt to play for Simeone, is that true? It is complicated for attackers. For example, right now, Correa understands better than Joao the ideas of Cholo and what the team needs when they put him in band. Joao is a pearl with unlimited potential, but the change from playing in a team like Benfica, which almost always has the ball in his league, to play in Atleti, which dominates less, is complicated. He has to learn that the ball is not going to reach him and he has to be decisive on those few occasions. That is very difficult, but he has talent to achieve it. It also cost Griezmann at the beginning and ended up being great in that role. Who misses who: Atlético Griezmann or vice versa? Adapting to Barça is especially complicated. Because he has a very unique and almost unique philosophy and, above all, because he has Messi. Messi always understands you, but understanding Messi is very difficult because he is two steps ahead. But Antoine is so talented that he will succeed in Barça for sure. Returning to your last leg in Atlético, the injuries were constant, how does a streak like that take place? Fatal, it was the hardest thing I lived in my stage at Atleti . It was written that I did not want to play, that it lengthened the injuries ... I find it funny because that is to completely ignore how a player thinks. People believe that as you have many millions and life resolved, everything gives you a little equal and you are never sad, when there are few things that affect the head more than recurrent muscle injuries. It is super frustrating that your body fails you, I know cases of soccer players who have gone into depression because of situations like that. In 2017 I had five muscle injuries. And last year I got injured against Real Sociedad walking through the countryside. Walking! And when you think you're there, you relapse and you have doubts about whether you can really follow. It is very hard. I had a great family environment and some companions like Godín or Giménez, who were riding a barbecue, or Diego Costa, who makes you laugh constantly. They dragged me up, but if you don't have that support, it's very dangerous for the mental health of the player. Seriously, you can never doubt an injured footballer. It is a nonsense. Well, you might think it is charging without sweating. An injured footballer earns nothing. He only loses: contracts, image, big games ... For example, in my case, that he was free, teams that were interested doubted because they didn't want to sign a veteran who is injured all the time. It's a disaster. That he doubted me was unfortunate, it hurt a lot. But this is the business sometimes. Now there you are like a rose. Well, here is another rhythm. Besides, the medical service is ... different. We have four doctors, eight physios and three physiologists who are analyzing our blood data permanently. The training plans are completely individualized and that is the future of football, because each player is different and training all practically the same makes no sense. It is no accident that we hurt ourselves less. Has your life changed a lot when you moved to Rio? In Madrid, it made more life, say, normal. Here I live in the soccer player bubble: training-home-travel-match. Rio is a spectacular city, with a tremendous mix of cultures, but I'm not living it much. Now, that walking to pick up the children to school is over. Always by armored car and I live in a completely enclosed urbanization with private security. It is a bubble, but we are very happy inside the bubble. When the professional goes well, the personal goes well. But I really miss Madrid. As soon as I retire, I return. To Atlético? Sure. I have two more years of contract, I feel very well and I plan to continue playing for a long time, but when I start training, Atleti will give me the opportunity to train in lower categories or within the coaching staff. I really want to be a coach, but I don't know if I'm going to be able, I don't know if I know as much about football as I think, if I can be a good group leader ... So I'm getting ready for that because I have so much to learn. Although I have been able to understand the head of Cholo, I have already earned enough.

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