Lucas Paqueta, here against Reims in November, has perfectly integrated into the Lyon workforce.
-
Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA
OL attack Ligue 1 in 2021 in the shoes of the leader, this Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Lens.
His Brazilian rookie Lucas Paqueta, who was coming out of a disappointing 18 months at AC Milan, is no stranger to Lyon's spectacular comeback in the league.
Now indisputable holder, the elegant midfielder is deciphered by Mauricio Barbieri, who was his trainer in 2018 in Flamengo (Brazil).
How not to talk about a Lucas Paqueta effect in Lyon?
In his first two months in Ligue 1, the Brazilian international scored nine wins and two draws to move OL from 14th to first place.
Transferred for just € 20million after a failure at AC Milan, the 23-year-old is perhaps the league's best rookie this season.
Now coach of Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil), Mauricio Barbieri coached the tireless torchbearer at Flamengo in 2018. He deciphers for
20 minutes
the key man of the Lyon game, both to trigger the pressing and to organize the game, before the reception from Lens this Wednesday (9 p.m.).
What was your first impression, as a Flamengo coach, when you discovered Lucas Paqueta three years ago?
Lucas was already a very talented and creative player.
But he did not yet grasp the game tactically.
This is why he was not at the level that could be his.
He wanted to have a lot of freedom of movement and be everywhere on the pitch.
He found himself chasing the ball all the time.
Then he understood with me the importance of respecting his position and waiting for the ball to return to him.
What is precisely his best place on the field?
When I took over the team, he was playing a winger or even a center forward because there were several injuries in front.
Before that, he had always evolved as number 10. But I already had Diego (ex-Wolfsburg and Atletico de Madrid) as playmaker and I wanted to replace Lucas as midfielder.
For me, he's really a
box to box player
with a great vision for the game, especially when he can go from afar.
AC Milan unfortunately did not make this choice afterwards.
Lucas Paqueta often seemed frustrated during his Milan adventure, from January 2019 to September 2020. - Insidefoto / Sipa USA / SIPA
Is this positioning the main reason for his failure in Italy (1 goal and 3 assists in a year and a half and 44 games)?
For me he was ready to go to Europe at 21, but Milan was not the right place for him at that time.
It was a great club in a phase of reconstruction.
And above all, Italian football is very tactical and it doesn't leave much room for the creativity of a player like Lucas.
We can see that he already feels happier at Lyon, and he is really a player who needs to feel that everyone around him appreciates him in order to give his best football.
Against Nantes on December 23 (3-0), Lucas Paqueta scored his first goal in an official match since February 2019 (during a 3-0 success in Serie A against Cagliari).
How do you explain that it is so decisive?
Lucas wants above all to have fun while playing.
He is not a player obsessed with the idea of scoring goals or making assists (three in Milan, none with OL so far).
He loves dribbling, he is a whimsical player who stands out for his unique technical repertoire.
Sometimes in Flamengo, he was more looking to try
tricks
, small bridges on his opponent, than to score.
He grew up with this mentality that I tried to adjust, but it takes time.
It's up to him to soak up his experiences in Italy and France in order to evolve and become more direct and efficient, especially since he is a good finisher, whether with his head or with both feet.
Here in May 2018, Lucas Paqueta especially stood out for his sense of dribbling during his years at Flamengo.
- Marcello Zambrana / SIPA
In Ligue 1, we are used to seeing combative players, some more creative, but it is very rare to see them combine the two dimensions as Lucas Paqueta has been doing for two months ...
I'm not surprised because he was already like that in Flamengo, with the right balance between recovery and offensive impact.
Since his professional beginnings, he has always had the physical condition to fulfill this dual role.
I don't know why so many people imagined him as number 10, in Flamengo, in Milan and even with the Brazilian selection.
Those who don't really know his game should be surprised at his ability to retrieve the ball.
That's what makes him such an incredible player.
He knows both how to be a warrior and Michelangelo by his ability to create unexpected things.
Sometimes we have the impression that it is impossible to take the ball from him when he puts his body in opposition.
Is that one aspect of his playing that particularly impressed you at Flamengo, and where did he get that from?
Yes, he's tough, faster than you might think, and it's true that he knows how to use his body perfectly to protect the ball or to try to recover it.
He developed this technique on his own.
It comes both from his practice of football on the streets, on the beach and of futsal which is essential for young people in Brazil, with this game in small spaces.
There is also so much bad ground in Brazil in the youth championships, on which the ball bounces in any way, that Lucas has found this solution to take the time to control things.
And then you have to know that as a teenager, he was still very thin.
This ball protection was therefore invaluable in allowing him to be competitive against more powerful opponents.
Lucas Paqueta undoubtedly delivered his best match with OL during the shock at Parc des Princes (0-1) last month.
Can you imagine him capable of dethroning PSG in his first season in Ligue 1?
Yes, because he is a player with a winning mentality.
He is not afraid of any opponent, he has great self-confidence.
If Lyon has the opportunity to be champion, it is sure that Lucas will fight in this direction.
Lucas Paqueta is he ready to bring down Neymar and PSG in his first season in Lyon?
- VS Press / SIPA
What do you think is Juninho's share of success in Lucas Paqueta's adaptation to Lyon, in a very technical environment, with in particular the other Brazilians Thiago Mendes and Bruno Guimaraes?
Juninho seems to understand Lucas well.
He was such an incredible player that he can help him progress.
He had a different game but he was also playing in the middle.
His presence in Lyon is certainly very positive for Lucas.
Seen as he has transformed the Lyon game in a few weeks, Lucas Paqueta seems to be the perfect player for a coach, right?
Yes, he's a special guy and I'm very proud to have been a part of his rise.
We had a special relationship with Flamengo, he easily understood what I expected from him.
He likes to make jokes in the locker room and he dances a lot (
smile
).
He is an intelligent and very sociable player.
If his mentality changes further, he will become one of the very best players in the world and I would not be surprised if he does not stay in Lyon for very long.
pic.twitter.com/3YbBSR2XeS
- Out Of Context Olympique Lyonnais (@OL_OutofContext) December 15, 2020
So what do you think is the next step to take in order to aim for the highest level in the world?
He needs maturity to be even more professional, demanding of himself and focused above all on results.
In Brazil, for example, he loved to play the PlayStation, but also kite on the beach.
It is symbolic of the fact that deep inside him, there was a child playing football.
There is a positive but also a negative dimension to this.
Sport
OL: “Incredible mental strength”, soothsayer and “super dribbler”, Tino Kadewere is the key man in the Lyon awakening
Sport
RC Strasbourg-OL: What to expect from Lyon rookie Lucas Paqueta after his failure at AC Milan?
Brazil
Lyon
Sport
Juninho
OL
League 1
Soccer