If Shakhtar Donetsk have returned to the map of European football, at least for a few days, after the start of the war in Ukraine, they owe it to someone who always has the face of a man who is just passing through by chance, who started coaching practically the day before yesterday but manages the team in the image of one of the greatest managers in history, Diego Simeone. Because, sure, there is the domestic title, won at the weekend, but Arda Turan’s real masterpiece on the Shakhtar bench was bringing them back to a European semifinal after six years, since the famous 5-0 defeat to Inter in the Covid-era Europa League.
So, the Turk has only one reference model, the man who for him was the greatest coach of all, the Cholo who guided him at Atletico Madrid from 2011 to 2015. Together they won La Liga and came close to a Champions League in Lisbon in 2014, before Sergio Ramos equalized Godin’s goal in stoppage time, sent the match to extra time and set Real’s comeback in motion. And yet Arda also took something from the way that Atleti managed to metabolize such a painful defeat. As Mundo Deportivo analysed, in fact, the bond with the Argentine coach is extremely strong.
To win their sixteenth Ukrainian title, the team from Donbass only needed, so to speak, to win 0-4 against Poltava thanks to goals from Dmytro Kryskiv, Isaque Silva (who scored a brace) and Lassina Traoré. This is the first national title for the Turkish coach, in his debut season at Shakhtar. As mentioned, then, the club reached the semifinals of the Conference League, and never mind if Crystal Palace rolled over the orange-and-blacks, the technical difference was simply too great.
Okay, but in what way is Arda similar to Simeone? First of all in the idea that talent must be at the service of the team and that talent alone is not enough. “Simeone was the first to take me out of my comfort zone. He taught me that, even if you are not as talented as your opponent, you can beat him if you run and fight more than he does,” he explained to the Spanish newspaper. He has also assimilated aspects such as defensive movements, cover and positioning in certain game situations.
“I learned defensive discipline in Simeone’s football. A player has the ball for only 2 or 3 minutes per match. For the rest of the time you have to run and fight. He is my great point of reference for the defensive phase, from him I learned the details: the angles of cover, when to clear the ball and how the defensive block must move,” he commented, adding that “if you don’t concede goals, you always have the chance to win matches.” Finally, he also stressed the way Simeone managed the dressing room, always with honesty: “He always told us the truth, I learned that being honest and direct with players is fundamental to managing a dressing room.” So young (39 years old is nothing for a coach), but also so direct, he joins a good list of successful coaches who had Simeone, such as Filipe Luís, who won everything with Flamengo, or Fernando Torres, who is doing great things in Atlético’s youth sector.