"In L1, the Brazilian player suffers a little at the beginning", according to Caio Henrique

• Every Monday,

  20 Minutes

  gives the floor to a sports actor or actress who is making the news of the moment.

  Today, the Monegasque Caio Henrique gives his analysis of French football.

• The Brazilian side is one of the key players in the ASM squad.

• His second year in Ligue 1 is a great success, a sign that his adaptation to French football is over.

Monaco is back.

While we thought the rock club was a bit lost after its elimination from the Europa League, here it is again dreaming of qualifying for the Champions League.

With a favorable schedule, Philippe Clément's men still have a chance of grabbing the podium in Ligue 1 and, even better, 2nd place.

Among the strong men of the Monegasque workforce, we find Caio Henrique.

With 31 starts, two goals and seven assists, the Brazilian proves that his adaptation to French football is over.

For

, he looks back on the form of his team and the Talent League.

What is your analysis of this good period for AS Monaco?

The key moment is the victory against PSG?

Yes.

Before the match against PSG it was very complicated.

The results did not follow until this disappointing elimination in the Europa League.

The game against Paris gave us the confidence we needed.

After this match, we managed to follow up and score important points.

We're on a six-game unbeaten streak [eight, actually] and we're going to try to keep it that way.

Did something happen after the Europa League elimination?

We lost some confidence.

It was an important competition for us.

We expected a lot from us in the Europa League, but we managed to react quickly.

It was important because at that time, we were no longer too much in the fight for access to European competitions.

What do you like about what ASM is doing right now from a gaming standpoint?

We managed to do what the game requires, to adapt to different situations.

There are games where we know we won't have much of the ball and so we defend lower, trying to make the most of counter-attacking opportunities.

We were very smart on this aspect.

And then, we are lucky to have confident players who are very free to play on their qualities.

There is also a lot of speed in the transition game, we saw it a lot against Saint-Etienne in particular…

(He cuts) Absolutely, that's what the coach is asking us.

He always tells us to get the ball back as soon as we lose it.

And when you recover it, you have to quickly move forward to take advantage of the moment when the opponent is unbalanced by the loss of the ball.

Generally, the opponents are out of their camp and their lines are open in these moments.

And that's where we try to sting them.

In two, three touches of the ball, we can go up the field, and that's what we have been able to do well in recent matches.

On top of that, we are very realistic in front of goal.

Speaking of your coach Philippe Clément, how does he make you work?

What are his methods?

The workouts are pretty good with a lot of intensity.

But he also gives us a lot of freedom in the way we play.

He asks us to take risks and now it's really something we have acquired.

Personally, what does he expect of you?

He asks me in the defensive phase to press the opponent, and on the offensive part, he wants me to take risks.

He insists on the fact that we have the qualities to dare and that at certain times I have to take more risks.

We feel comfortable.

This is advice that makes sense.

As you are in training, we feel that you sometimes like to take part in the game and sometimes temporize and play as an eccentric leader, while sometimes you have to overflow and center.

Is that the kind of aspect you are working on?

Overall, having been a midfielder for a long time still helps me a lot on the side.

Today, being a fullback requires midfield characteristics like having a good long game.

I made several assists thanks to this aspect of my game which I developed when I was a midfielder.

And then, since I've always played on the left, even when I was midfielder, it makes my job easier.

So it is above all an aspect that helps me in my position on the defense side.

What is the difference between playing as a full-back in Brazil and in Ligue 1?

Mainly the intensity.

In Ligue 1, attackers are very fast and physically strong.

In Brazil, they are more technical players, physically less dense.

In Ligue 1, you have to be constantly attentive because our opponents are always looking for the empty space behind us.

So we must be constantly observing and reacting.

Do we think twice before going too high when we are lateral in L1?

Exactly.

In France you have to know how to choose the right time to ride.

The attackers are very fast, if you go up all the time they will punish you in the spaces because they know how to exploit them very well.

So if you're careless, you can easily cost your team a goal.

Many Brazilians have succeeded in Ligue 1 but others have also struggled.

What is the level of compatibility between the Brazilian player and French football in your opinion?

The Brazilian player must seek to understand the game as quickly as possible in order to be able to adapt.

It is a completely separate championship.

For example if you take the Spanish championship, it's more technical, Italy, more defensive.

Here it's more physical, mainly when you're going to play against a team that defends 90 minutes and only goes for the counter-attack with fast forwards.

You don't have much time to think and control the ball.

The Brazilian player suffers a bit with that at first.

In Brazil, you have a lot of space, you can control and have two or three seconds to make your pass.

Here no.

You don't have space and therefore you have to make your decision faster.

The first touch is a bit intimidating in French football.

You know immediately that there is a player behind you ready to eat you.

That's quite right.

And then here the referees whistle fewer faults on certain contacts.

So you have to be careful to get out of difficult areas very quickly.

Peek, check, pass, because there's always someone trying to steal the ball from you.

A lot of teams base their game on that too: stealing the ball quickly, going on the counterattack and trying to score.

This pragmatism is another difference with Brazilian football.

It's hard to talk about Brazilian football without talking about Neymar.

You were trained at Santos even though you were younger.

How did you know him back then?

We knew him through futsal, because he was already super well known in the region thanks to that even though we were four or five years apart.

Then he went up with the main Santos team and we always stayed at the stadium to watch the games.

I followed his debut a lot at the time.

For the Brazilians, it's cool to play against him because he's our reference, he's the best Brazilian player in activity.

Did you already tell him about Santos' time before playing against him in L1?

No, not at all, as we are four or five years apart, we did not have the opportunity to know each other before.

But I was finally able to talk a bit with him about the last matches we played against Paris, he gave me his jersey.

It's a good memory.

Is there solidarity between players trained at Santos?

I don't even know if he knows that I started at Santos too (laughs)!

But there is real solidarity between Brazilians in L1.

Ney is a reference for us, so it's fun to play against him just as it's fun to play against the other great players of Paris Saint-Germain.

How do you want your pass?

🍽🧑🏼‍🍳🇧🇷

Caio Henrique this season is:

👟 10 assists

🔑 48 assists pic.twitter.com/EHHSGRzPVU

– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 6, 2022

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Precisely since you are talking about the other PSG players, as a defender, how is it to stuff Mbappé?

Roh… It's difficult!

But all of them, in fact.

The front three, four are quick and smart.

It's complicated, if you're not careful in matches like that, it's the punishment.

You have no room for error, because otherwise the ball ends up at the feet of one of those players who can bend the game to you in one action.

HR issue.

What are your ambitions for the future?

I am quiet here in Monaco.

It's a big club in France that opened its doors to me at a time when I needed playing time. A city with a good climate and more (smiles), and a very good atmosphere for the family.

The question of the cold does not arise here compared to other places in France.

It helps to work.

My ambitions are to help Monaco rediscover Europe.

And it is certain that if I do things well in Monaco, I will have an opportunity with the Seleçao.

Do you think you are being observed by the Brazilian staff here, in Monaco and in L1?

Sure.

Many players playing in L1 have had opportunities in selection.

Paqueta, Gerson, Bruno Guimarães when he was in Lyon.

So if I do my job well here, maybe I too will have an opportunity one day.

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