The Campos method. This is the program offered to students at the prestigious Sorbonne economics school on Friday evening. An exceptional guest, the Portuguese manager was able to detail his way of working at Paris Saint-Germain. Central architect of the Ile-de-France transfer window, the football advisor of the capital club took the floor to deliver his vision and his way of building a squad, today based more on the notion of collective. “At PSG, we have the example of one or two players who change a lot this year and who are better adapted. We are much more in collective thinking. It means everyone can shine. This is a new direction taken by the club and I think it will result in fewer failures concerning certain players. The puzzle is taking shape… but only the field will validate or not the work carried out”Campos first recalled.
Luis Campos reveals his working method
A conference also allowing the person concerned, who passed through Monaco and Lille, to present one of his main theories, known as the “puzzle”at a time when the reigning French champions have decided to take a 180-degree turn in their sporting policy with the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar and the arrivals of several less bling-bling players. “Football is a team sport, for me a team is a puzzle of 22-24 players”Campos then admitted, powerpoint in support while relying on the image of a puzzle of the Eiffel Tower. “This puzzle is very pretty. But if you remove two pieces and replace them with pieces from another very pretty puzzle… the Eiffel Tower is horrible. However, we took some very pretty pieces from another place. Sometimes we say about a player: ‘He’s extraordinary, I love it’. But you have to see if he fits in well with the team, otherwise he will destroy your work..
To illustrate his remarks, Luis Campos also insisted on this notion of complementarity, basing his argument on an example experienced in Monaco. “The important thing is the connection between each player, like in neurology. You can have eleven extraordinary players, but if they don’t connect with each other, it can’t work. Where I am strong is in finding players capable of combining well with each other. When Monaco was champion in 2017 (he participated in building the squad between 2013 and 2016, editor’s note), the strength of the club was the connection between all these players. The year after the title, Monaco sold Bernardo Silva for a lot of money and put a lot of money on another player to replace him (he doesn’t name the player, editor’s note). They bought the player with the best stats in the world. But they forgot that he played all the time near the line… where Djibril Sidibé used to go..
Theories and the sense of collectiveness at the heart of the transfer window!
Determined to present his way of proceeding as best as possible, the person concerned also reiterated his desire to “defend the culture of the club, the city and everything that has been put in place in previous years” when decisions are made on the transfer market. With this in mind, the Portuguese then entered into a new, more technical consideration. The one that differentiates players A1, A2 and B1. A theory, here too, at the origin of its functioning during the transfer window. “When I go to a meeting with the coach for the transfer window, I arrive with 9 players per position, with 3 price brackets: transfer amount and salary capacities. For me a team must have four A1 players, a fundamental player, capable of winning matches or points himself. An A1 in the goalkeeper position, an A1 in defense, an A1 in midfield and an A1 in attack. He’s the backbone of the team.”Campos first confided before clarifying.
“Not two, not three… only one A1 for each line. Then there are the B1s, the young players capable of being A1 one day. They are free electrons, young people with extraordinary talent who were sold for a lot of money. Bernardo Silva, Nicolas Pépé in Lille… They have all transformed into extraordinary players. The A2s, finally, are team players. They are not the best in the world but they are very important”. Without naming names, the Parisian leader revealed his method with precision, all while offering some provocative declarations: “a square head will never understand a round ball”. Speaking, finally, on the new direction taken by Paris Saint-Germain, the native of Esposende, questioned about possible casting errors in recent years, then promised fewer failures if the club allowed itself to be guided by this collective spirit. Before concluding : “the puzzle is taking shape… but only the field will validate or not the work carried out”. New element of response, this Saturday at 5 p.m., with the trip of PSG to the pitch of the Stade de Reims.
