"We will have a very competitive squad"

To start, he wanted to send a message of support to Tito Vilanova, who left his position at Barcelona on Friday. "From here we wish him well and send him more energy and strength in an important moment of his life. All football people and people who know him will be sending all the positive energy for this time in which I’m sure everything will right", he said.

Regarding the signing of Villa, the technician said "he is very good player and is enthusiastic. We had a chat with him, you always see the player and then start to know the person. In short you realise the ability and intelligence of the player and see that he is up for a challenge like this one. He perfectly embodies what we feel we are working towards at Atletico Madrid. We hope that all his talent helps us grow as a team".

As for the team goal, Simeone said that "we are at an important stage. We have improved the team in the preseason and the games we have in South America will allow us to go game by game. After a spell as positive as was the one we’ve had, the objectives have to be short term. Since we talked about the game by game approach it’s more relevant than ever. We will have a very competitive squad, as you’ve seen in training and that's going to give us chance to be competitive in everything we play. The illusion is that we approach each match with that idea and, above all, keep the identity this team has to be competitive in all competitions".

Regarding the first game, to be played this Sunday against Numancia in El Burgo de Osma (19:00 hours) and what he expect from the preseason, the coach said "we have worked probably better than last year due to the knowledge of the tasks and the work we’ve done in these two weeks. Those returning from international duty will have to work hard to catch up, we have a group of 21 outfield players and with the goalkeepers a very competitive 23 man squad".

On the possibility of the arrival of more reinforcements he said that "when we finished and spoke with Cerezo and Migeul, they knew the places where we need to improve and we’re working very hard to close the squad. While transfers are still poible I don’t want to close the door on anyone else joining us or anyone leaving."

He made it clear that "when we got to the club in December before facing Malaga until now we have a much more competitive team. With the arrival of Raul, Cata, Rodriguez, we grew in that area. And we are more powerfull now with Demichelis, Demichelis, Leo and Villa, the squad will improve due to the technical ability of these players that are coming in. Insua came in January and he’s improving from the little I have played him and we have a good replacement in him. As always, the commitment is not with any one individual, but with the team. There is no better way to improve than compete internally. They know and in all games we are looking at this internal competitiveness. We are confident that we will compete well in all competitions".

Finally, the Atletico coach said "it is more important at this stage to work on the physical stuff. Of the new people, only David has not only played with us. The other guys have been with us some time now. With David there will be no difficulties, his ability and will make sure of that. At this time, the need for them is to get in good shape physically".