Milito defines ex-Argentina coach as the ‘best for developing players’ < In Attack

Three-time under-20 World Cup champion under Argentina, the experienced José Pékerman was a fundamental figure for Gabriel Milito in football. Today at the helm of Atlético, the former defender defines the Argentine teacher as the “best coach to train young players in the history of the world”.

Milito worked with Pékerman on the Argentina national team’s youth teams and also for the main team between 2004 and 2006. 20 years later, the “Marechal” continues to recognize the merits of what is considered one of the main coaches in Argentine football.

“I had a lot of good coaches in my playing career. The best. The best coach to train young players in the history of the world was José Pékerman. The best. Not because he won everything he did, but because of how he prepared us – everyone we were lucky enough to coincide with him – for our careers.”

Gabriel Milito, Atlético coach

After spells with Toluca-MEX, Tigres-MEX, the Colombian National Team and the Venezuelan National Team, Pékerman has not worked since March 2023. His way of thinking about football, in any case, continues to influence the black and white commander.

Milito highlights the mentality of a champion team

In an interview given last Saturday (4/5), after the draw between Fluminense and Atlético (2-2), in the fifth round of Series A of the Brazilian Championship, Milito highlighted the importance of sharing experience with other professionals to build the mentality that there are nowadays..

“Later, when I was already a professional, I had very good coaches. I’m very clear on what you have to do to win. Tactics are important, but the first thing is to want to win. And wanting to win requires effort, courage, not giving in in the face of adversity. After a failure, continue with illusion. There are a lot of values ​​that I lived as a player, in teams that I was able to be in and win”, he reflected.

“I am very clear on the path. It is impossible for a team to want to win, to win a championship, if it does not have all these values. It’s impossible. All championship teams have that. We are in the construction phase. We’re fine? Yes. Can we improve? Yes. We’re going on this path and we have to keep improving, because as I say, this has just started and it’s a very, very long time. We have to sustain. Sustain and better, if possible”, he added.

Gabriel Milito’s Atlético returns to the field this Tuesday (7/5), starting at 7pm, to face Rosario Central in the fourth round of Group G of the Copa Libertadores. The match will be played at the Gigante de Arroyito Stadium, in Rosário.