transfer window, “puzzle”, “collective”, tool to study the personality of players… We attended Luis Campos’ masterclass at the Sorbonne

It is 6:15 p.m., the benches of the Descartes amphitheater at La Sorbonne – more used to hosting medieval history or sociology classes – have been stormed. There is no longer room to hear a character who is talked about a lot but whose voice we rarely hear: Luis Campos.

This Friday evening, 280 lucky people attended the 59-year-old Portuguese’s master class. Around ten journalists are also present, but the invitation email clearly states that “the question and answer session will only concern students“. Two members of the PSG communications department, installed in the front row, are keeping an eye on things. They will not break out in a cold sweat as Luis Campos, at the end communicating, delivered – it is true to say – a masterclass throughout his speech, including questions and answers.

“The team is more important than the individual”

“A square head will never understand a round ball.“Here is the mantra of the Portuguese leader, who has been able to add water to his wine over time to understand the world of football in general, and his role as sports director in particular.”You have to be open-minded“, he insists to the audience.

The Paris Saint-Germain football advisor, standing, microphone in hand, then launches several slides on the giant screen where he details his way of building a team. And who says team says collective.

“I’m almost 60 years old, I’ve been in professional football for 18 years, and it’s an idea that I fight for every day. Football is a team sport. For me, a team is a puzzle of 22 or 24 pieces.”

Luis Campos

during his masterclass at La Sorbonne

He details: “There are eleven players against eleven, but substitutes are needed. By doubling the positions it gives 22, and then there are two specific positions – that of attacker and goalkeeper – which therefore gives 24 pieces.“

A puzzle that becomes a puzzle when, this summer for example, Paris Saint-Germain recruits eleven new players. “It is very important to analyze the playing model wanted by the coach, but also our own vision as a club“, develops Luis Campos, and adds: “OWe must defend what our supporters like to see on the pitch. Also defend the culture of the country, the culture of the city, what has been put in place in past years.” In short, combine past, present and future to achieve the perfect collective puzzle.

“A1, B1, A2”, the key pieces of his collective puzzle

To build his team, Luis Campos developed very specific codes. In his typical eleven, for example, he needs four so-called “A1” players: “A fundamental player, capable of making you win matchess. You need one on every line, it’s the backbone of the team.” Gigio Donnarumma, Marquinhos or Kylian Mbappé seem to have this profile.

Added to this column are so-called “B1” players: “Young players capable of becoming A1, free, extraordinary electrons, like Bernardo Silva, Mbappé, Fabinho.“We inevitably think today on the PSG side of Warren Zaire-Emery, called up to the French team by Didier Deschamps.

Without forgetting the “A2”, “team players, very important for it to work“. With a common denominator, the cognitive, “know how to understand the game“.

A tool to study the personality of players via social networks

To find these profiles, Luis Campos is a man of his time, who loves using technological tools. “I’m a big fan of data but I’m not radicalhe slips. It’s like a filter, a funnel. But to the data, we must add sensitivity.”

To do this, Luis Campos has developed a unique system with the University of Berlin to better understand the personality of his players.

“We developed a tool that analyzes players’ social networks in order to tell us more about their personality. For us, social networks are extraordinary.”

Luis Campos

during his masterclass at La Sorbonne

Because for the puzzle to work, you have to know the player in all his forms, whether on the field, but also off it. Campos will not say more on the subject.

He is wary of social networks: “They can influence the valuation of a player. As soon as it comes out for a PSG player, the price increaseshe laments. I try to maintain as much confidentiality as possible.“He won’t speak more about the capital club, just will he take the example of the South Korean Lee Kang-In,”an extraordinary case” to his eyes : “I like him a lot and he fits into what the coach likes. But I didn’t think about all this impact [économique, ndlr] in Asia, it’s incredible the number of Asians who are now connected to PSG thanks to him.“

At the exit of the lecture hall, the students enjoyed the moment spent with the Parisian leader who signed a few autographs and took a few selfies before leaving to the applause. “Very relevant“for Noah,”instructive”, for Griffin. “He put a lot of pressure on the collective“, slips Shirine who came to this conference out of curiosity”I watch a bit of PSG matches, and this season what I see on the pitch, I like it, it’s better than last year.“En Réda concludes:”It highlights the field and not just the data, there is a need for a physical feeling. He really gave his methodology. It’s nice to have this kind of speakers. It has an ideology centered on the collective player.“