EXCLUSIVE: Football: Interview with Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro

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Monaco sporting director refusing to get carried away with top-of-the-table start as they lead PSG in Ligue 1

Transcript

00:00 Of course, it's good to start in a good place, in a good position,

00:04 because it brings confidence, it brings good energy for the daily routine,

00:08 which is always tough.

00:10 But again, it's only the beginning.

00:12 What matters in football is how it's finished, not how it starts.

00:17 We are very happy of having a good start, but we also know that it's a long journey,

00:22 a lot to do, we still have to improve our performance in so many areas.

00:27 And this is our focus, it has to be taking care of the details,

00:32 which is going to make us stronger on the next stages.

00:35 Last six games. In my opinion, all leagues around the world,

00:40 they are decided on the last six games.

00:42 So the main job is to keep on the top until there.

00:47 If you are able to keep your team on top three, top four, until that stage,

00:52 you are going to be able to run for bigger things on the last six games.

00:56 But nothing is decided before this.

00:59 I think the playing idea, Ad Ruter's playing style,

01:03 which is very offensive, very aggressive when we don't have the ball,

01:07 very aggressive when we have the ball.

01:09 Players' commitment to this, it's of course also very key.

01:14 And they are having joined to create a lot of chances during the games.

01:18 And considering the quality of our players, we are going to score.

01:24 The challenge is also that this model drives you to be very exposed.

01:29 That's why defending together, working hard against the ball is very important.

01:34 Because on the other side, we also concede too many goals for the club we are.

01:40 Yeah, he's a young, top-talented striker,

01:44 which made a very strong season in Ligue 1 last season.

01:49 So, fully adapted to the league, fully confident about what he can do in the league.

01:55 And now it's our job to help him to reach the next level in his career.

02:00 He's recently an international for the US,

02:03 a young player with an Arsenal academy profile,

02:07 which brings very, very good and strong skills with him.

02:11 And we are excited to have him on board, competing now with Ben Yedder,

02:16 which is a legend at the club, a top scorer since ever.

02:19 And, well, we gain a lot, as I told you.

02:22 Internal competition is one of the concepts that I truly believe for success.

02:27 All players that stayed with us are very important,

02:31 because they are driving the internal competition to a very, very good level,

02:36 which guides the training sessions to a high level.

02:39 That's the path, I believe.

02:42 The games are a consequence of what they are building during the week.

02:46 And not only Minamino, it's a team effort, team work.

02:50 The new signings, the players that stayed with us,

02:53 all of them are creating a good environment inside the training ground.

02:57 And this is where we have to keep working on.

03:00 Well, I'm still realizing better, deeply.

03:03 I was following, of course, but from Brazil, being here is a different perspective.

03:07 You are more inside.

03:10 So far, I see the league in a very good place in the industry,

03:14 for the quality of the players, for the quality of the game, for the physicality.

03:20 Technically, they are very good.

03:22 Very good pitches around the stadiums,

03:25 which drives the game for a good level of quality.

03:29 So I cannot put to you a ranking here or there.

03:33 I'm not able to pair the league with Serie A or with Bundesliga.

03:39 But I just see the league in a similar level of them, which is also good.

03:45 Now it's a collective effort from all the clubs

03:49 to try to increase the level of the league in different areas.

03:53 It's very new, it's very recent.

03:56 It's very hard to make a deep analysis on this.

04:00 I think that so far it's much more about money

04:04 and not having taxes than anything else.

04:08 But I hope that they have a plan to make this stable,

04:13 to make this a long-life process and to make the operation more healthy.

04:20 I think that investing only in players will limit you as a league,

04:26 as performance, as environment.

04:28 They have now to invest also on management, on organization,

04:32 on corporate governance, on marketing, on creating a good product

04:37 and also good staff people around the players,

04:40 which increases the level of the game.

04:42 I hope that this can become a new market,

04:45 a new strong league for the world of football.

04:48 But let's see if time is going to bring all those answers.

04:53 I just hope that it's not something similar to what the Chinese league did years ago,

04:59 which was also a lot about money, low quality on the technical side,

05:05 low quality on the development of the sportive matters.

05:08 And then in less than 10 years,

05:10 they were not able to sustain this level of investment.

05:13 I think all opportunities we have to meet people,

05:19 to see other projects, other ideas and being able also to share ours,

05:25 it's important for our own development, for our jobs development.

05:30 So I think basically this is the first reason why to me it's very important to be here,

05:35 for the knowledge we have here inside this place for the next three days.

05:39 And as a club, of course, having our brain here in a panel,

05:43 talking about how we work, what goals we have, the way we want to do things.

05:48 It's also special because it puts ourselves in a good place.

05:52 So we have to recognize the good job that Liga Portugal is doing,

05:56 organizing the summit, putting people together,

05:59 discussing football industry.

06:01 I'm always open for knowledge.

06:04 It was a very rich discussion,

06:09 in the sense that you have different club ownership models discussing together.

06:15 I think on the last speech of each one,

06:20 we had like a playing idea as a key thing,

06:23 having the playing idea aligned between clubs.

06:27 Everybody agrees that it's very important.

06:30 Leadership also was one topic that seems very important,

06:34 like not only global leadership on groups, but also local leadership.

06:39 And then, of course, the respect for the sportive matters above the business.

06:44 So, of course, football is more and more in the business,

06:48 but before all of this, it's a game.

06:50 We have to respect the game.

06:52 It doesn't matter how many clubs and where you are working on.

06:55 Give me two seconds.

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