Last season was an anomalous one in the career of Jorge Resurrección, Koke, (Madrid, 32 years old). For the first time, the captain of Atlético de Madrid had to combine the season with a renewal with the label of a well-paid veteran and in a context of general salary cuts established by the management. The agreement was announced at the end of March.
His was a complex case, more so for the club, aware that the equation included everything that Koke represents for the red-and-white fans, for the dressing room and for Diego Pablo Simeone. Both parties played their cards internally and externally. “There was nothing strange behind the scenes. My contract was coming to an end, we reached an agreement, there weren’t many obstacles, maybe it was extended because there was no, so to speak, rush,” he explains, leaning back on a sofa in one of the press boxes at Cerro del Espino in Majadahonda, the player with the most games played in the history of the club (642).
The day will come when Koke will no longer be at Atlético de Madrid, but there is no need to dramatize it”
The training session in preparation for Thursday’s match against the attractive Leipzig (21.00, Movistar+) has just finished. The expression on the face of a player who was raised in the simplicity and humility of Vallecas with which he expresses himself is tired. “There were offers, but I had no doubt that I would continue. Where one makes oneself worth is on the field of play. When you give everything on the field and on a day-to-day basis, there is nothing to reproach yourself for. The day will come when Koke is no longer at Atlético de Madrid, these are stages for players, there is no need to dramatize. There is also that saying that there is no one above the club, be it a player, a coach or a director,” he continues.
Koke does not avoid the passage of time and admits that this season he thinks he could play less. “I am older and I am a realist, there are times when you have to rest and play fewer minutes and it doesn’t matter. If I tell you that it doesn’t bother me, I am lying. We all want to play everything, but the sooner you realise the situations and accept them, the better it will go for you. You will be more focused to do what the coach asks of you and what the team needs. On the day of Girona I wanted to play, I only played 20 minutes and I could have scored a goal,” he reflects before leaving a classic Simeone tagline to tame egos that he himself also had as a player: “There are many times when five minutes are more than 90.”
“If I tell you that I don’t mind playing less, I’m lying, but I’m a realist and the sooner you realize the situations and accept them, the better it will be for you”
Koke saw Simeone arrive almost 13 years ago and has been one of the great masters of the coach’s tactical carpentry along with Gabi and Tiago. Last season he witnessed one of the changes that has drawn the most attention in the Simeone era, Oblak’s participation in the ball’s outfield playing short. “I have been lucky to have the style of Cholo’s early years and of going to the national team and I have adapted to both. I like that we try to get the ball out from the back. Whenever we have the ball it means that we are attacking, you can score a goal and play more beautifully, which does not mean better, and more attractive for the people. We are working on it with Jan (Oblak) or with Juan (Musso), they are one more player to get the ball out.”
Koke does not comment on whether the change was because the formula was no longer good enough in the face of the new style of football that was being imposed. “That is a coach’s thing, he and his coaching staff have an idea. The important thing is that this idea exists, if the coach says that we have to play the second ball, we have to play it to the death, if we have to play the ball from the back, we have to play it to the death with him as well.”
“Now players are more athletic, faster and more intense, but it’s not all about running back and forth. You have to know how to position yourself well.”
Koke survives in a football where transitions are very fast when the opponent’s high pressure is broken. “Now the players are more athletic, fast and intense, but it’s not all about running back and forth. You have to know how to position yourself well, I don’t have the speed of others, but tactically I try to sneak in well so that they don’t get past in the transitions, which can happen and is normal.” In the times when he hasn’t been sharp with the ball, Koke has defended his position by covering other players’ holes with his covers. “I must have eaten some, the coach tells me, but not many,” he jokes.
The arrival of Pablo Barrios and Riquelme has brought out his youth-team soul. “Since Thomas, Lucas and Saúl, no one else has left and they are no longer here. It is important that there are people from the club who know what Atlético is all about. I like that on the day I am not here, there are people from the club who will lead the team. Barrios has started spectacularly and Riquelme has an incredible flow.”
Koke also analyses the new players, who have been brought in at a very high rate of money, as has not been seen for some time at Atlético. “Le Normand arrives first and leaves last, I think it is because he has no one at home (laughs). He works hard and takes care of himself, we needed a guy like him, a tough guy in the good sense, like Savic,” he says of the French centre-back. “Gallagher transmits to us all that energy from Premier League games, that intensity and aggression and the back-and-forth. Sorloth gives us goals, and when we have problems getting the ball out you can throw it to him and he holds on to it.” Lastly, the big signing, Julián Alvarez, who he identifies with Atlético’s DNA. “He is always running, pressing, he has a lot of goals and a lot of grit to compete.”
