Returning to La Liga from the Chinese Super League, returning from Dalian to Atletico, Carrasco did not sink as expected, but embarked on another professional peak, under Simeone, whether as a winger, full-back or wing-back, whether playing in the three-back system or the four-back system, the Belgian is an indispensable member of the main squad.
From a young age, the lack of father's love forced himself to precocious
Q: Recently, a photo of your brother Mailan has been widely circulated on the Internet, and the photo shows him as a child wearing a Atletico jersey. Is he such a young atletico fan?
A: Well, yeah, he was a kid when he took this picture, and I don't actually remember who bought him the shirt, which I loved. When he was a child, he really liked Atletico, because Atletico is also a long-established La Liga club, and it is still a bit famous in Belgium.
Q: What's interesting about this is that in the late 1990s, a Belgian kid's favorite La Liga team wasn't Real Madrid or Barca.
A: I can only say that it was a fateful arrangement, he had his own Atletico shirt when he was a child, and now I have my own Atletico shirt, and it is a wonderful thing to be able to fight for atletico shirts.
Q: How did you spend your childhood?
A: We all lived with my mom until we were 11 years old, going to school every day, then training, and on weekends my grandfather would take us to the park to play football. I left home when I was 11 years old because I joined genk club, which was more than 100 kilometers from home, and he continued to stay at home, go to school and train, and play in the park until he was 16 years old.
Q: You guys said you were always playing with older kids?
A: Yeah, it's always been like that, we play street soccer first, then we play futsal, and because I'm pretty good, the big kids are willing to take me, after all, I can help them win. To be honest, we were not bullied when we played football on the street, but because the strength was there, the big kids would still take us.
Q: You should have been quite famous at the time.
A: It's a little bit of a little fame, there are a few kids on the street who play well, but we play better, in fact, the time we play street football together is more than a year, not long, but it is really good.
Q: You have a deep affection for your mother, a great admiration for her, and brought her to the ceremony when you first joined Atletico in 2015.
A: Yes, my mother played a very important role in my life because I did not have a father (I was abandoned by my father as a child, so I gave up my father's surname Ferreira and inherited my mother's surname Carrasco instead). In the world of football, the role of the father plays a key role, especially when you are a child, you need the company of the father, after all, everyone says that football is a man's world, and as a result, the advice given by the father is often different from that of the mother.
But because of life, I didn't have a father, which made me learn to be independent and mature very early from an early age. Luckily I still have my mother, who can sacrifice everything to help me achieve my dreams.
Q: Have you ever longed for fatherly love?
A: I've long been used to life without a father, the thing is, you have no other choice, you have to learn to live without a father, I adapted well and lived very well.
The aura of street football will be
Professional football is polished off little by little
Q: When did you realize you could become a professional player?
A: I was a target for that when I was very young, but it wasn't until I was 16 that I really realized that I was already playing for Genk belgium. Kids want to be a professional player in the future, but to achieve your dreams, you have to set goals for yourself and do your best to achieve them, because at that time you play more for fun, you want to please yourself.
I realized at a very young age that I have a lot of talent in football, but talent is not the key to whether you can become a professional player, you have to work hard enough, you have to keep a clear head, and luck is indispensable.
Q: We can still find a lot of videos of you playing fancy football on the street on the Internet, are you still using those superb skills?
A: Those things helped me a lot, but now I've changed to a different way of playing, a more basic and simple way. The space for street soccer is too small, and you have to move and react as fast as possible.
Q: Will the aura that street football brings you be consumed by the rules and regulations on the football field?
A: Yes, it's inevitable, after all, you can't play street football like you can in a formal game, but what to say, even so, I'm still a technical player, some things are born, even if you let those players who are not good at playing street football, they can't cultivate the aura.
Q: In the summer of 2015, you left Monaco to join Atletico for the first time, when Simeone called you to convince you to join, what did he say?
A: He said I could help Atletico get better, he was very much looking forward to my joining, there was really no hesitation for me at the time, because everything was in front of me, Atletico is a better club than Monaco and joining Atletico was an important step for me.
Q: How has that changed from when you first joined Atletico in 2015?
A: Over time, like everyone else, I've become more mature. When you're only 18 years old, you'll show off every time you catch the ball, always thinking about passing, but no matter how many times you succeed, as long as you finally concede the ball, everything before that is zero.
Now it's different, I've learned to read games, I've learned to do the right thing at the right time, and I'll only choose to dribble over people when I find myself empty or I have to pass, which is an evolution.
Play in the Chinese Super League and take the initiative to ask for the ball
Returning to Atletico is grateful for Simone's trust
Q: There are still a lot of people who don't understand why you went to China to play football.
A: In your career, you always have moments where you need to make a choice for yourself, when it's going to be the World Cup in Russia, and I had a bit of a pain at Atletico (I wasn't the main player at the time) and I wanted to get more chances to prepare for the World Cup. For me personally, the Trip to the Chinese Super League was a great experience and it turned out that I didn't waste those two years because I was back at Atletico and helped the team win last season's La Liga title.
Q: But there is a big gap between the level of the Chinese Super League and La Liga.
A: It's hard to say exactly what level the Chinese Super League is, but if you go to the Chinese Super League and find a team to play with Atletico, they will definitely lose to zero to a few. And the problem is not only this, in the Chinese Super League, even if you run out of the position in front, your teammates will not take the initiative to pass the ball over, but continue to fall backwards in the back, you must take the initiative to ask for the ball, that is completely another kind of football. But from another point of view, the experience also made me better because I had to learn how to carry the team forward.
Q: You had a conversation with Simeone before you returned to Atletico, what did you talk about this time?
A: We talked a lot and it was during this conversation that he found that I was more mature, better, ready to return to Atletico both physically and mentally, and he trusted me very much because he knew me well.
Q: Given your age and level at the time, leaving La Liga to play in China was a huge controversy.
A: Yes, there was a lot of controversy at the time, but like I've always said, talent and talent are innate, and as long as you have it, you can't lose it, and there are a lot of people who can't understand that.
Q: For a while after you came back, you couldn't adapt to the team, like what is happening to Griezmann now, is this mainly physical or tactical?
A: Before I returned, I took almost two months off, although my body was kept well, but after all, I didn't touch the ball much in those two months, and then I tried to change the rhythm of the ball control, and things were much better.
The coach is the "boss" and now he plays better
Q: Did you watch Spain vs France vs. Europa League final? Mbappe's goal was offside? Many players are questioning this penalty.
A: In my opinion, it's like this, from a neutral fan's point of view, the ball is offside, and if you're a Spanish fan, it's offside, but if you're a French fan, you think it's a good ball.
As for my own opinion, I think the last defender of the Spanish team only touched the ball slightly and did not change the trajectory of the ball, so like many people, I think the ball is offside. But since VAR said the ball wasn't offside, there was nothing to argue about.
Q: How do you feel about your current position as a left winger in the three-centre-back system?
A: This position has higher requirements for my defensive ability, especially when it comes to one-on-one defense, and frankly that's not my strong point. But my strength is physical fitness, whether the game is playing for 90 minutes or 120 minutes, I can keep fit. Of course, as an attacker, like any other attacker, I want to be able to get closer to the goal and score goals.
Q: Is this Atletico the best atletico you've ever seen?
A: This team is full of talent, but the Atletico team I played for before has always been a very strong team, with a lot of very leadership players, fierce fighting, tough style, and now this Atletico is playing better.
Q: What are you going to do in the second leg of the Champions League group stage against Liverpool?
A: Keep in mind the coach's tactical deployment, and then do your best to do your best and strive for victory.
Q: Unconditional obedience no matter what the coach says?
A: Yes, because he's the head coach, the boss of the team, he's going to do it in the best way possible.