I am very happy with my two goalkeepers. Miguel Angel Moya and Jan Oblak both arrived in the summer after Thibaut Courtois left the club. Miguel started really well after Oblak was injured at the start of pre-season; he was very consistent and won the starting spot.
Now it has happened the other way round: Miguel got injured and Oblak has come in and done really well. He is responding in the best possible way and when Moya is back to full fitness, it is up to me as coach to make a decision in terms of which of the two plays more regularly.
With both having performed well, however, that is a nice problem to have and it is also good because it shows the value of the hard work carried out by the club in the transfer market to go out and sign a goalkeeper like Oblak. Obviously a lot was expected of him and now he is showing what he can do.
It is impossible to compare this season to last. Fans and journalists are always looking to compare, but it’s impossible – they are different teams with different players and those footballers have different characteristics. So it’s very difficult to compare.
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I think the big success for the club this season was in winning the Spanish Supercopa against Real Madrid at the start of the year. We also competed well in the Copa del Rey, we have remained competitive in La Liga and in the Champions League we are once again among the eight best teams in the world. The club and, above all, the team has been able to reinvent itself once again.
We are in good shape now. The team has been performing at a very high level. It’s not easy after winning La Liga for the first time in so many years. That is what Atletico Madrid achieved last season and to be in the position we are in now, competing again, makes me very happy.
I have recently signed a new contract at Atletico until 2020, but my way of thinking has not changed. I work every day thinking that I could be sacked tomorrow. I live every match with the same intensity, the same passion and the same excitement I did in my very first game against Malaga. I am also well aware that results are more important than contracts.
Moving forward, the need for this club is to consolidate that third position in La Liga. The more times we can finish third and the better we work in terms of signing players who can come in and strengthen the team, the closer we will be to the best teams in the world.
What we need is to keep qualifying for the Champions League, to consolidate that third place in La Liga every year or as much as possible in order to bring in the extra income that can help us move closer to the best teams on the pitch. And in the Champions League, obviously we want to go as far as we can every year.