Simeone and Burgos, the perfect society that ended in silence and with old wounds that are reopened today

“I’m very hot. It is a team that is looking for two steps forward and one that goes two or three steps back. “That is the difference that makes Madrid win.”

He Burgos Monkey He hit his old partner where it hurts most, the Cholo Simeone. He called it defensive, that nickname that the successful coach has been fighting against for years, after the elimination of Atlético de Madrid against its historic rival for the Spanish Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia. And the ten years they were together? The statement dusted off old ghosts and opened questions. Why did you break up? Did Burgos really want to follow his path or was there a difference in “football ideology” within the coaching staff? Why didn’t they talk more?

The thing is, in this society there were other times. And happy. On March 11, 2020, the Cholo Diego Simeone and the Mono Germán Adrián Ramón Burgos They melted into a hug. It was after Atlético Madrid’s epic victory at Anfield against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who had been the last Champions League champion. “A big hug, like the one we gave each other when we won the first League. We owe ourselves the third when we become champions of the Champions League,” predicted the former goalkeeper.

But that one at Anfield would be the last hug that the successful couple would give each other. At that point, Burgos had already decided to separate from Simeone. And Orejona’s dream would once again be cut short. A few months later, in August, Aleti was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the European competition and the successful couple’s final path began.

In 2010, when Quique Sánchez Flores won the UEFA Europa League and the European Super Cup with Atlético de Madrid, the coach said that Colchonero would not experience a similar situation again for decades: “This will not happen again in 40 years” .

I could not have been more wrong. The thing is, a year later, the day that Diego Pablo Simeone, Aleti’s prodigal son, landed at the Barajas airport with Germán Adrián Ramón Burgos. And, since his arrival, Colchonero’s mentality would change forever. It would stop being “the suffering team” of Spain to become a very tough rival for any European team.

In Spain they compare Cholo’s arrival at Atlético with what happened when Johan Cruyff took over the technical direction of Barcelona. Yes, the good life in Catalonia began before Guardiola.

The ten years of Simeone and Burgos in Madrid were the period of glory for Atlético and also for that society: 8 titlesincluding two Spanish Leagues, one King’s Cup, one Spanish Super Cup, two European Leagues and two European Super Cups.

With Simeone as the beacon of the flashes and a silent Burgos, despite its eccentric profile, Atlético became the third team in Spain without discussion and a regular protagonist in Europe. They qualified for 9 Champions Leagues in a row in those first 10 years (including two finals that narrowly escaped) and the club’s coffers were filled with euros.

What was Burgos’ role in Simeone’s teams? “I built bridges,” explained the Monkey. “It was the balance of weaving ties in all instances. A little bit, it’s what I always did. Also when I was a player.”

The change in the budget was notable. Of the one hundred million annual budget, Simeone achieved the resources to manage a staff of five hundred. Furthermore, the old Vicente Calderón became obsolete and Atlético built a new stadium: the modern Metropolitano, which changes its name according to the highest bidder.

The 2013-2014 season may have been the crest of the wave. Simeone made the Colombian Falcao explode and he was sold for 60 million. But he managed and brought in a David Villa who had no place in Barcelona to replace him. They won the first League of their management and made history in Champios. They took out Milan in the round of 16, in the quarterfinals against Barcelona with Messi, Neymar, Xavi and Iniesta. And then they dispatched Chelsea.

The final was the one that ended with a 4-1 win for Madrid after winning 1-0. But the run-up to the final match had been relentless: Simeone’s team arrived undefeated, with 9 wins, three draws and the least beaten hurdle.

Ten years after arriving in Madrid in December 2011, when Burgos decided to start his own path he understood that he had given added value to his role as “second man“: “What I have never seen is that a second coach is fired with a painting, with a t-shirt, with the team applauding… Yes, first, but the farewell I had…”, says Burgos proudly.

I left as a legend“, he told the newspaper AS satisfied.

Since that goodbye in 2021, Simeone and Burgos have not spoken again. El Mono tells it like this: “I don’t need to talk to a friend. The day I need to, I know I can call him.”

But the distance draws attention. El Mono is the great absentee in the documentary about the life of Diego Simeone. El Cholo even appears in the biopic that Netflix made about David Beckham, but his right hand for ten years does not appear in his.

When Mono was asked why he had not participated in Cholo’s docu-reality, he had an elegant exit: “They invited me to participate in the documentary but I couldn’t do it, I was at Newell’s “And with all this Covid issue I decided to postpone it, I was not going to force any situation that would compromise the team by putting people in the club who could break that bubble, playing every 48 hours and with 12-hour flights, I had to avoid the risk.”

What did Simeone say? Silenzio stampa. As happens in rock bands, the frontman does not talk about the guitarist after the separation. It happened with Cerati and the other Sodas. Or with Indio Solari who went years without naming Skay after the dissolution of the Redondos. In this case, Cholo does not mourn his guitarist. Even if they ask them to “get back together.”

The separate routes of Simeone and Burgos were very different. Although, if Cholo was criticized for his lack of calm on the bench, the former goalkeeper is not far behind.

Let’s start with the Monkey. Your first experience post-Cholo (He had previously coached the humble Real Caranbanchel and achieved promotion to the Third Category of Spain) see dio en Newell’s Old Boys of Rosario.

On the day of his debut, the Monkey left several notes of color and showed his “few fleas” to direct. To begin with, he protested each failure to referee Loustau: “They are all missing. There are five now, they don’t let the attack progress, old man“.

Then he got into a fight with the youthful Sforza, “why are you stepping on it, you’ve already lost two balls!” , don’t worry. You’re talking a lot. Leave it to me otherwise there are two voices. “You are here to help me.”

“You’re right, mister,” the Spaniard responded submissively, but in the second half Burgos went to the sidelines: “Who’s going to the zone? You’re not paying attention, Armando, my mother’s pussy. Who goes to the area? “I told him that the two of them are too small to go to the area.”

It was a fleeting step from Burgos to Newell’s. He played fifteen games where he scored 40 percent of the points and at the end of the season he continued on his way.

The next stop was the Aris Thessalonica of Greece where he did better, although he was fired after 19 games: “We had a championship campaign, we got 70 percent of the points (N. de la R: actually he got 66 percent) but they didn’t wait for us,” he said later .

In those months, while he was selling himself as technical director, some juicy definitions from Burgos appeared that seem to distance him from the tactical animal that Simeone is.

El Mono said that he put together the squads according to the signs of the zodiac. “I like to analyze how the players interrelate. I always have a relationship with Aries, Pisces and Taurus. Cholo (Simeone) is from Taurus. He is the one with whom I have the greatest friendship,” he said.

Cholo’s situation at Atlético without Burgos did not change much. As soon as Mono slammed the door, Cholo reassembled his coaching staff. He gave his place to another former teammate of the Argentine National Team who already had experience as head coach: Nelson David Vivas who had arrived some time before. In addition, he added the former Independiente supporter, Gustavo López.

In the post-pandemic, it began to be thought that Simeone’s days at Atlético could come to an end. However, the coach reinvented himself and after an overwhelming first half of the Champions League (he was the leader in his group with a 6-0 win over Celtic included), the Atlético board renewed his contract until 2027.

If his contract ends, Simeone will complete 15 years on the Atlético de Madrid bench. A record, which is currently only surpassed by the German Franck Schmidt who arrived at Heidenheim in 2007 and promoted it from the fourth to the second category.

Burgos’ statements after Atlético’s elimination in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Madrid reopened wounds. “I’m very excited. It’s a team that looks for two steps forward and one that goes two or three steps back. That’s the difference that makes Madrid win,” said the Monkey, as if removing the thorn from a discussion that took place behind closed doors countless times.

It could also explain the turnaround he gave to his career. And in the face of Simeone’s silence, the official explanation of the divorce is the one given to Burgos himself: “If you tell your footballers to be brave, you must be brave first. Leaving there was a brave gesture.. And because I wanted to be head coach,” he told AS.

They owe each other a hug. And according to the now DT they will give it to him when they meet again on a soccer field: “We have friendship, we will give each other another hug.” Although he clarifies that they will not be sharing the bench: “It will be like rivals.”