Sportskeeda Football Awards 2016: Manager of the Year 2016

#6 Diego Simeone: Total Score = 11 (Experts pick 6, Fans vote 5)

Don Diego “el cholo” Simeone walks out in the rain at Anoeta stadium, San Sebastian

Diego Simeone never took any prisoners when he used to prowl around midfield in his playing prime. He doesn’t take any these days either. Clad in all black, the manager of Atletico Madrid sends out teams that are spitting image of his personality.

Forever battling the Goliaths that are Real Madrid and Barcelona at home (and the constant attrition of his top talent), he continued to do wonders this year, although he wasn’t able to walk away with any silverware to show for it.

A runners-up finish in the Champions League is nothing to be scoffed at, especially as it came only on penalties – isn’t it a mark of the man’s management that only last-minute Sergio Ramos goals have helped Real Madrid pip them on two separate occasions in the UCL final?

He schooled Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich juggernaut as well as Barcelona on the way as well. On top of that his Atleti side finished just three points adrift of champions Barcelona as they brought up the tail end of one of the closest races to the Top 3 positions in modern La Liga history (helped mainly by his defensive organisation that meant Atletico conceded just 18 goals in 38 La Liga matches!).

His numbers at Atletico also hold up to the test of time having an incredible 63.03% win rate with the capital club in his 284 games in charge.