11 Questions with Luis Viegas

The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.

Here is Luis Viegas:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I played until the U19’s of my city’s club, Académica, and worked as a sports journalist for  about a decade. I built a solid career, covering some major events, but in 2011 a close friend started to manage a club in the Portuguese first division, Beira-Mar, and invited me to work there. That’s how I landed in the football industry. Later I had a brief spell at Petrolul Ploiesti, from Romania, just before coming to Thailand, in 2014, with a Portuguese coach, Rui Bento, with whom I worked in Beira-Mar.

What attracted you to scouting/analytics? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers?

I always enjoyed to know everything about players and teams. In the early 90s I remember that my favorite time or the year was the release of the football season magazines. At that time everything was much more about names, as the numbers available were few. Now we are in an era where we have to combine names and numbers. But numbers alone will never give you anything. Names can give.

What player or concept you fascinates you? What caught your eye?

The first touch, the relation with the ball. Then comes the decision making, the awareness, the competitive attitude. And also the capacity to understand the game and to take different roles.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

Giving priority to numbers. The game is chaotic and often driven by emotions. Numbers are relevant, yes, but can’t come as priority. For every number there is always a context that needs to be considered. And also drawing conclusions at first sight, both in analyzing the game or scouting players. Sometimes first impression doesn’t matter.

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

I would be more objective and synthetic. I remember collecting far too much information. That costed me a lot of time and didn’t improve the quality of the work.

What is more important player development or recruitment? Why?

To recruit a player who can still develop. But the hierarchy of these two concepts depends on the club’s philosophy and project.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

Portugal winning the Euro 2016. Our culture is extremely devoted to football and finally we got an international trophy. It was a reward for everyone, from the kid who starts at the age of four dreaming of being a player to the coaches who are now in the elite of world football.

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

At our club we created and internal project called “Shadow Teams”, which consists of identifying and monitoring teams all around the world with a similar game model and playing ideas. From there we take material to reflect, analyze and develop our own game. We follow teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Roma, Atalanta, Flamengo or Defensa y Justicia. About players there is only one that I may see in a special way. Today he would be a phenomenon. His name is Paulo Futre.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Study a lot, develop a consistent network, expose your work and and eventually be prepared to at some point make difficult decisions on a personal level. And then have a strong work routine and continuous learning. Is hard to get into this business but is even harder to stay in it.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

I admire people with the mindset of guys like Michael Jordan or Cristiano Ronaldo. They aren’t in the sports to be nice guys. They are there just to win and for that they are ready to work within the limits.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

One that we can use for sport and for life: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”, Martin Luther King, Jr.