After a rich and stroied career in Ligue 1 Uber Eats with Bastia, Lens, Marseille and Montpellier - marked by two Ligue 1 Uber Eats titles (2010 and 2012) - Vitorino Hilton, the most French of Brazilians, who is still based in Montpellier, gave us his view on OM and its South Americans ahead of the Olympico on Sunday. He also analysed for us the evolution of the role of the central defender, from his new perspective as a consultant for Prime Video.

Vitorino, you have started a new career as a consultant for Prime Video. How is it going?
It's an opportunity that came very quickly after I retired. I hadn't thought about it at all before then. It's a new adventure that I'm very excited about! I'm still learning, because it's a real job to be on the other side of the game. To improve, I watch a lot of matches. I take inspiration from other consultants and try to take what I like best from them. That should help me to always been the money in my comments.

Isn't it too difficult to comment on Montpellier HSC games?
It's easier to talk about what you know very well and the players you have already played with. It's still special because they were my teammates a few months ago.

How does Hilton the consultant view this first part of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats season?
PSG and OL are teams that have been playing an attacking style for several seasons. This season, OM are also doing it, but it's not just them. Lorient and Lens are also teams that play the ball very well. Lens were a surprise promotion last year, and they are continuing in the same vein as before. It's very positive for the championship. We are seeing teams who are keeping the ball more: before, there was more direct play with teams who lost the ball quickly. This is all great in terms of the show that is being put on! This evolution in Europe came from Barça. And the other teams started to copy it and it happened in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. This allows us to see today coaches who ask the defenders to do a real job of getting their team moving into attack. There is a desire to maintain possession, because when you lose the ball, you have to make more effort to recover it. Of course, there are risks involved, but that's part of football. It's necessary to surprise your opponent.

'Gerson's debut was pretty good'

You also know OM well, having won your first league title with them in 2010. What do you think of their current South Americans?
I know Luan Peres and Gerson well. I'm a Flamengo fan, so I've been watching Gerson's performances in the Brazilian league over the last few seasons. And I know that he is a very good player. His debut in Marseille was pretty good. We know that it's very difficult to establish yourself immediately in a new league, but that doesn't stop the expectations being very high with Brazilian players as soon as they arrive. He has the advantage of knowing a coach who was in Brazil while he was playing there [Jorge Sampaoli was coach of Santos and Atletico Mineiro in 2018 and 2021respectively] - he knows his personality. But there is still an adaptation time that is necessary.

Why does it take a while for a foreign player to adapt when he arrives in Ligue 1 Uber Eats?
First of all, when you play as a defender or a midfielder, there is a lot of communication, so language is really important to learn the automatisms. These are things to take into account. I think he's not doing so badly. When he arrived in Europe at Roma, he was very young [19] and he didn't play much at the beginning. He needed time. With some experience, it was probably easier for him when he arrived at OM. And having several South Americans in the team would have helped too.

Leonardo Balerdi is another South American who is in his second season at OM. Are you impressed by his performances?
He was very good, with a lot of desire and character, even if has no longer been a regular starter in the last few games. That works well in Sampaoli's OM. Because he is a coach who wants to transmit this character to his team. He wants players who fight to the end. And Balerdi plays in a position that's a very difficult one when you are still young [Balerdi is 22]. Being in central defence requires a lot of rigour and concentration. And defenders have to perform well all the time. When they have a bad day, it shows immediately and they are quickly pointed out. And at OM this is even more true than elsewhere, it's passionate there. It can go very quickly - in either direction.

Does he remind you of Gabriel Heinze, with whom you played during your time at Marseille (2008-2011)?
Like Leandro Balerdi, he had a lot of grit. Heinze also had a lot of experience: he had been to Real and Manchester. It was easier for him to impose himself. But Balerdi is young and has everything to prove at OM. He has the qualities to impose himself and have a good season.

Sampaoli's OM usually play with a three-man defence. What signals does this send about the team's playing philosophy?
The first is that your full-backs are becoming almost like wingers. OM play without real full-backs, so you can see straight away that they are an extremely offensive team. Jorge Sampaoli came to put his stamp on OM and offer a real show. His team puts a lot of intensity into the game with fairly high pressure. However, playing with three men does not simplify the task in defensive. If you face a team with three strikers, you risk quickly finding yourself negotiating one-on-one situations. In this case, the opposition's central striker has only one opponent to mark, as the flankers have to cover the flanks. This system is not straightforward. But it can work very well with good organisation among the wing-backs and midfielders. Playing with four at the back is generally easier tactically, with two true full-backs who, even if they tend to press higher more often nowadays, remain, above all, defenders.

Watch out for Part 2 of our interview with Hilton...

>> Olympico! OL-OM at 20:45 CET Sunday