Certain players and managers just feel made for each other; their styles, personalities or attitudes simply fit like a glove, often leading to great success on the pitch. Think Xavi dictating the Barcelona midfield for Pep Guardiola, Ricardo Carvalho marshalling José Mourinho’s defensive line at Chelsea, or Thomas Müller bewitching opponents at Bayern Munich as the legendary Jupp Heynckes watches on with a smile.
We cherish these great combinations as they form some of our core memories in football. But what of the ones we never saw? Players and managers who never linked up, despite feeling destined to do so for one reason or another?
We’ve picked out five perfect pairings that sadly never were…
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
No one likes a hard worker more than Atlético Madrid coach Simeone; he’s fashioned more elite teams based on sheer grit than anyone over the last decade, at times prioritising attitude and tenacity above natural skill.
The ideal scenario, of course, is to blend them together, and if you can combine magical talent levels with an underlying, run-through-brick-walls mentality, then Simeone is the perfect manager for you.
Over the years, we’ve seen some of the best examples of this playing style either emerge at Atleti or eventually gravitate to them: Antoine Griezmann, Diego Costa, Koke, Saúl Ñiguez, Rodrigo De Paul … the list is a long one — but somehow Uruguay striker Cavani never joined it.
That’s almost beyond comprehension, as the two are a perfect match: Simeone’s Atleti embody the same Garra Charrúa [a term used to describe Uruguayan football’s never-say-die attitude] mentality Cavani exhibits. At his peak, he scored a lot of goals, too, and few can hold a candle to him when it comes to his off-the-ball runs, movement and pure work rate.
It would have been nigh-on impossible for Simeone to sign Cavani while he was powering his way to the top of Paris Saint-Germain‘s all-time scoring charts (he’s since been surpassed by Kylian Mbappé), but the summer of 2020, when the Uruguayan joined Manchester United on a free transfer, was a true window of opportunity. Atleti splashed out €56 million to sign Álvaro Morata instead.
