The season in review, the Champions League and more… Hear from Thiago Scuro
Back in the Champions League!After six years of absence from the competition, the Principality club will do be back in the Champions League next season. It’s good news for AS Monaco, whose 2023-2024 season was very encouraging overall. It is therefore to take a step back from this rich season and discuss the issues of the moment, that CEO, Thiago Scuro, spoke with the press. 🎙️
𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗗𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥 🇪🇺🔙
@ChampionsLeague, HERE WE COME 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tcIr0v5eA5— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) May 12, 2024
A look back at 2023-2024
I think our season is satisfactory if we look at the final result. You know more than me what it means to finish in the Top 3 in our league, and how difficult it is to qualify for the Champions League. When I arrived, I said that the experience of past years would be the foundation of our future. And certain players and staff members who were already present were able to voice this We wanted to do things differently, and we did.
Now our objective is to take a step back from this season, because the results have happened, but obviously we have a lot of things to improve upon. We have gone through some difficult times and we want to understand why, in order to show more continuity and consistency next year. We have shown our ability to react, but we want to control things more, because the expectations will be higher and higher.
The importance of President Rybolovlev
The President has been very important and very present for us this season. He sometimes came to attend training sessions, was always close to me, to Adi Hütter and to supporting the players, especially in the locker room. He was always involved in the big decisions made this season and helped us progress, especially after the elimination in the Coupe de France against Rouen, which was a turning point in the season. We had meetings at that time with key players in the squad, as well as the coach and myself. He has always been behind us, and has had an important role in the fact that we have achieved this goal of returning to the Champions League.
His feelings about Ligue 1
I am positively surprised by the level of Ligue 1, which is a very underestimated league, in my opinion. The quality of the matches is really high, and I think the football played there is exciting for the fans. And this, obviously thanks to the quality of the players, but also because many teams play very offensively. There are often big scores, no matter if they are big clubs or not, the matches are always enjoyable. I have to say that the individual quality of the players is very high, and the talent pool is comparable to what I know from my own country, Brazil.
For example Brest was a nice surprise this season, because it is not easy to deliver such a level of football with today’s demands. This is why I want to congratulate Grégory Lorenzi for his work, but also the coach and the players. Historically, the lead in the championship changes a lot, even if Paris dominates it. Let’s wait and see what happens next season, but our desire is to keep AS Monaco at the top, like what PSG is doing.
The team for next season
We want to stay strong! We have the ambition to sign new players. Our needs are guided above all by our performances, which we constantly analyze throughout the season. We are currently working on the transfer window since February with the recruitment department, myself, Carlos Aviña, Adi Hütter and the assistant coaches. We have a pretty clear plan for this summer.
The squad for the Champions League
Considering the fact that a team involved in two competitions generally uses between 20 and 21 players, we have sufficient numbers. Paris, for example, only used 19 players this season, to compete in three competitions.
If there are departures, they will naturally be replaced, but we do not intend to increase the number of players in the squad, particularly because we still want to rely on the Elite Group, which provided us with a lot of players this season in periods when we had needs.
On the Champions League
It was our number one goal to bring the Club back to the Champions League, and it’s happened. Our priority now is to retain our best players, especially with this prestigious competition coming up, where the objective will be to progress through the league phase. But I don’t control everyone’s desires, but the goal is really to keep our key players.
We will probably have to strengthen ourselves in terms of staff, however, especially to prepare for our matches, because there will be eight additional opponents next season, whom we will only play once. It’s up to us to prepare ourselves for this great challenge.
About recruitment
We have an idea of which positions and profiles we want to recruit for. I don’t think Monaco needs a lot of extra players honestly. We have a solid and strong team, and there will be no AFCON or Asian Cup next season.
But what is certain is that those who join us will add value to the team. We want players with character and capable of giving the coach the opportunity to modify his way of playing depending on the opponent.
The Club’s position on the Olympics
It’s quite clear, we want to respect the wishes of our players and at the same time meet the needs of the Club. To do this, we shared with those concerned our two conditions for accepting participation in the Olympics. Firstly, go on vacation before the Games, because they finish very late and we cannot afford to see them leave. Here, we will fortunately not compete in the play-offs for the Champions League, which could have conflicted with the Olympic Games.
Then the rules are strict: the selection must include 18 players, including a maximum of three players over 23 years old. We will see if the case arises. If Maghnes Akliouche is called up? We will let him go, obviously. For Folarin Balogun, if he is also selected for the Copa America, he will not be able to play both. It would not be fair to the Club if a player could be absent so much without taking part in the preseason.
Félicitations à la Guinée qui obtient le dernier quota pour le tournoi olympique de football masculin des Jeux Olympiques de #Paris2024 🇬🇳
La Guinée rejoint la France, les États-Unis d’Amérique et la Nouvelle-Zélande dans le groupe A ⚽️
Les Jeux Olympiques s’invitent à… pic.twitter.com/Po8JbypeMp
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) May 9, 2024
About the Elite Group
I can tell you who our future coach will be, since it is Djimi Traoré. We are very happy, because we share the same vision of the game, in addition to being a former AS Monaco player. He matches what we are looking for and has great experience in training players, thanks in particular to his time at Nordsjaelland. So we look forward to welcoming him here. He will therefore be the coach of the Elite Group, and Damien (Perrinelle) will remain on the staff as an assistant to the coach. When AS Monaco created this project, there was a lot of discussion around it, a lot of criticism. Three years later, we can see that other clubs have taken the same direction, to prepare for a better transition between training and the world of professional football.
In my opinion, it was the right choice, especially since there are currently discussions to create a new league for reserve teams. We are definitely in favor of this! It can only be positive for French football and for our team, which was already competing in the Premier League Cup. Currently there are a lot of friendly matches, but no competitions, so the arrival of a league could be a good thing. France loses too many young talents very early, who therefore start their careers abroad. On the contrary, this potential league can allow them to complete their development here, at home.
The Centennial Season
Speaking of the Centennial, we have lots of events planned throughout the season. There will be a match to celebrate this anniversary, but also special jerseys, which will be a nod to the rich history of AS Monaco. There will also be certain things organized with the Club’s former players and coaches. This 100th anniversary season will therefore not be celebrated in one day, but will be the subject of festivities throughout the season.
𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 📅🚨
Lancement de la campagne d’abonnement le 5⃣ juin pour la saison du Centenaire du Club 🔥
Ne ratez rien de la @Ligue1UberEats, de la phase de poule de @ChampionsLeague et du parcours des Rouge & Blanc en @coupedefrance au Stade Louis II ! pic.twitter.com/ZSrgOpNF22
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) May 20, 2024
