Vardy’s a killer ... of course he’d get in our team
SAYS ATLETICO MADRID DEFENDER DIEGO GODIN
Diego godin knows a thing or two about worldclass strikers. So when he says any team in the world would want Jamie Vardy, it is another measure of the Leicester star’s incredible rise.
Atletico Madrid and Uruguay defender godin has shared dressing rooms with Luis Suarez, edinson Cavani, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao and diego Costa, but he puts the 30-year- old england striker firmly in their company.
‘He is a great player,’ says godin, perched on one of the red bucket- seats at Atletico Madrid’s training ground in the build- up to tonight’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg, which his side leads 1-0. ‘He fights and competes in every game and never gives a single ball up for lost.
‘A striker like that is fundamental for a team who play the way Leicester do. They wouldn’t be the Leicester we know without him.’
it sounds like the sort of glowing reference that would turn even diego Simeone’s head. Would Vardy get in an Atletico side who have such a rich recent history of forwards?
‘of course,’ says godin. ‘i think he would fit in at the vast majority of teams in the world. Who wouldn’t want a striker who kills himself for the team and gives you so many attacking solutions?’ Vardy was subdued in Leicester’s 1-0 defeat at the Vicente Calderon last week but godin says: ‘He was virtually alone up front and if he didn’t touch the ball much, it’s because we paid him a huge amount of attention.
‘We were very focused on not giving him space and cutting off the attacking avenues to him. We know how good he is and how capable he is of creating chances on his own.’
godin was an admirer from afar as Leicester won the Premier League last May. Atletico won their own unfathomable title two years earlier, but it is hard to take them seriously as underdogs any more. Two Champions League final appearances in the last three years and having one of the world’s best coaches have put paid to that.
Simeone has not only been responsible for building Atletico Madrid, says godin, but also for rebuilding them time and again. ‘it’s not easy because it is always the most decisive player — the striker — who leaves the club each year,’ he says of the departures of Aguero, Falcao and Costa.
‘ But Simeone is able to reinvent the team despite losing the best player. He’s been able to bring in another one every time and get the very best out of him.
‘ He’s brought a kid like Antoine griezmann from Real Sociedad who would score a goal one week and then go maybe three weeks without getting the next, and now he is one of the best three players in the world. And he’s competing for the golden boot. That’s down to the manager.’
it is another reason why Atletico — regardless of whether griezmann leaves in the summer — must keep hold of their 46-year-old coach.
An unusual announcement in September that Simeone’s contract had been reduced by two years led to much speculation, but godin does not think the manager’s departure is inevitable.
‘There’s no big mystery to why Simeone has succeeded here,’ he says. ‘ He came to a place where he fitted perfectly, where he was loved. There are people, coaches and players, who fit in certain places. All players don’t fit into all teams and not every manager can manage every team. His place was Atletico.’
godin also feels he belongs. That is why he turned down the chance two years ago to join Manchester City and be reunited with Manuel Pellegrini, who brought him to europe when he was managing Villarreal.
‘i’m proud that Pellegrini wanted me but i feel like just another fan of this club. i’m very happy here. i didn’t feel it was the moment to leave.’
it is Simeone who forges the bonds that the players feel towards him and the club.
‘When Simeone came here he found a group of players who had a lot of hunger to improve and who were waiting for the chance to rebel against the situation,’ says godin.
By ‘ situation’ he means the domination of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Having beaten them in La Liga, Atletico want another crack at a european final after twice losing to Real Madrid.
‘no one likes to lose,’ says godin. ‘ We’re not taking this as revenge. But we still have that dream, that same desire to win the Champions League.
‘We know we have another chance. it’s very hard to win this competition but we’re on the right road and have walked it before, so that reassures us.’
‘He fights in every game and for every ball. They wouldn’t be Leicester without him’