In light of criticism against his tactics, Diego Simeone has hit out at his critics and revealed that while everyone can have their opinions, he always respects his colleagues. The Atletico Madrid boss has turned the Los Rojiblancos into one of the most defensively sound teams in world football.

Over the years, few managers have been criticized as much as Diego Simeone has been despite the Argentine winning multiple league titles and turning Atletico Madrid into a force to be reckoned with. The tactician has, however, built his reputation on building some of the most meanest and defensively sound teams on the planet although his philosophies and tactics haven’t gone down well with everyone.

That was the case after Atleti’s 1-0 loss in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash against Manchester City, where they deployed a 5-5-0 for most of the game. It saw several critics and fans alike complain and hit out at El Cholo although Simeone responded and snapped back as he admitted that everyone can have their opinion but he “always respects his colleagues”. The Argentine also added that it’s a free world and everyone can talk although people should step into others shoes and see the world from their point of view.

“I always say the same thing. I’ve been here since 2005-06 and I’ve never talked down to a colleague of mine or talked badly. I always try to get in the other coaches’ shoes and there’s different ways of expressing what you think and what you believe in every game,” Simeone said, reported Goal.

“When you don’t show appreciation I don’t really share it but there is opinions of every journalist, ex-player and people who haven’t played the game for a while and they want to say a different thing. Like my dad said: ‘The fish dies through the mouth’. It’s a saying. Talk is free and everybody can talk but I don’t talk badly of colleagues and we all have our opinions. And I always respect my fellow coaches. We can all have an opinion, but among colleagues we all have ways, I always respect my colleagues, always, always.”