Manzano safe at Atletico, says director

Atletico Madrid sporting director Jose Caminero has guaranteed that coach Gregorio Manzano has the full backing of the club’s hierarchy.

La Liga outfit invested heavily to reinforce their squad in the off-season, but such effort has yet to pay dividends as the club are 15 points off the top and just four clear of the relegation zone.

Gregorio Manzano’s work has been questioned in some quarters, with Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Getafe piling even more pressure on the under-fire coach.

But the club’s director has come out in defence of Manzano, stressing that no plans are in place to sack the 55-year-old.

“Our project cannot last just four months, it was designed to reach certain ends and it will not finish prematurely,” Caminero told the club’s website.

“What we must do is demonstrate we deserve to be at a club as big as Atletico. This is not the time to take drastic meastures, but to find solutions to a situation in which we should never have found ourselves in.”

“Just like when successes are everyone’s work, everyone should call upon themselves to be responsible for the bad moments.”

Manzano labelled Atletico’s display against Getafe as a disaster, and Caminero said his side have a problem when it comes to playing matches away from home.

“Atletico cannot be the worst team in the league on the road after 11 rounds,” Caminero said.

“We are analysing the reasons that makes us capable of thrashing Udinese (4-0 in the Europa League last Thursday) and then incapable of beating a rival who played with 10 men for an hour.”

“I would like to apologise to our fans for the account we gave of ourselves in some away matches, especially the one against Getafe.”

“We want you to trust that we will turn this situation around.”

Atletico will play host to Levante on November 20, when La Liga resumes after the international break.