Jamie Carragher told CBS’ Champions League coverage on Wednesday night that coaches such as Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone ‘cannot help who they are’.
The TV pundit was making reference to Atletico getting knocked out of the Champions League to Chelsea last night and really not putting up a fight against the Premier League side.
Just like Tottenham at the weekend, Simeone went with more attacking options to try and get something from the game, but in the end, he didn’t even lay a glove on Chelsea.
Carragher stated that when coaches such as Mourinho and Simeone try to be ‘open and expansive’, it’s not believable and they are perhaps better off adding that ‘more defensive’ player to their team.
“I have never believed a coach can change his ideas and how he wants his team to play,” said Carragher. “You feel it in your stomach. No matter how you coach.
“You can say ‘oh, I am going to play on the front foot’. But if it’s not you then you can never fully give the information or fully make the players feel they can play open and expansive football.
“A perfect example in the Premier League is Jose Mourinho. If you actually look at the weekend and the team they played against Arsenal. You look at the team on paper and there’s a lot of attacking players.
“And maybe a little bit with Atletico Madrid. Two players upfront. Two wide players trying to go forward. Even they are attacking players, those managers cannot help who they are. That’s how they are successful.
“They might as well go with more defensive players, in some ways, and I thought that with Mourinho in the NLD at the weekend and with Atletico tonight.”
Well, whilst Mourinho’s style struggles to win over fans in the Premier League, it’s a different story for Simeone in Spain.
His Atletico Madrid side are sitting top of the league and they are hoping to upset the odds by beating Barcelona and Real Madrid to the title.
Getting knocked out of Europe doesn’t help their cause because their previous 10 point lead is now beginning to slip away.
And if Atletico manage to mess this up then just like Mourinho, it’s not just the results that will be questioned.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
