Early on this summer, French side AS Monaco made the decision to part ways with manager Sebastien Pocognoli after just seven months in charge, with things having not worked out for the new Scotland manager in the South of France.
Very shortly after this call, they then made the decision to appoint former Atletico Madrid stalwart Filipe Luis as the club’s new manager, following Ricardo Gomes as the second manager in the club’s history.
To say that the 41-year old earned his stripes in his first senior management role with Flamengo would be an understatement. In a little over a year in charge, he has already won every trophy possible in Brazil, as well as the Copa Libertadores, beating fellow Brazilian side Palmeiras 1-0 in the final. He was dismissed early on in the 2026 season after disagreements with the club management.
In just 100 games in charge, Luis won seven trophies, including the league and Libertadores in the 2025 season. There was nothing left for him to do in Brazil and South America, so the logical next step in his career was a move to Europe, something he admitted was an ambition of his.
If you are cautious of how Luis will take to European football, you needn’t be. During the Club World Cup last year, his Flamengo side were the only team to beat Chelsea during the tournament, and went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich in the round of 16, creating the better chances during the game, with the only difference being one team had Harry Kane, and the other did not.
Furthermore, Flamengo took PSG all the way to a penalty shoot out last December, once again showing that Luis had made them competitive against European sides, despite the disparity in resources.
All of this happened whilst playing an incredibly attractive style of football. Despite playing for Diego Simeone for a huge part of his career, the former Brazil international has said that he takes inspiration from Pep Guardiola, citing a UEFA Champions League semi-final against his Bayern side back in 2016 as the day he realised that his relentless style of play is what he wanted to emulate as a manager.
At Flamengo, we saw a number of attacking players thrive under his guidance, namely attacking midfielder, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, who scored 25 goals and provided 19 assists in all competitions during the 2025 season. This could bode very well for Monaco, who have plenty of talent in their attack.
Throughout Luis’ time at Flamengo, the striker will always receive chances, often through cutbacks and low crosses, which is very Guardiola esque, and also through quick slick passing between the lines, with lots of attacking rotations to pull the opposition out of position. You can have a look for yourself by clicking this link.
This bodes well for Monaco, who have plenty of very good attacking players. In the 2025 Brasileirao season, striker Pedro started just 13 times, yet managed to score 12 goals, and also missed 11 big chances, showing just how much the team creates. The likes of Folarin Balogun will be licking their lips at the service they are set to be given.
A slight concern in terms of squad profile would be the lack of a controlling midfielder. In the second half of the 2025 season, former Chelsea midfielder Jorginho was a key part of the Flamengo side. Chilean midfielder Erick Pulgar was also very good at this, with both players able to break the lines and get the ball to the likes of de Arrascaeta.
That has never been Denis Zakaria’s game, and whilst Lamine Camara is a bit better in that regard, it is not the best use of him either, so hopefully the board can back Luis with that type of player in the remaining couple of weeks of this transfer window.
There is no expectation to win the league given PSG’s dominance, but there is the hope to be one of the best of the rest, and get Monaco back into the Champions League spots. Having competed in Europe’s premium competition last season, they ended up finishing 7th in Ligue 1, and will have to play Polish side Gornik Zabrze in a two legged play off for a spot in the UEFA Conference League. The first leg, taking place on Thursday evening, will be Luis’ first competitive game in charge.
So, in terms of a realistic yet ambitious season – a top 3 finish in Ligue 1, as well as a deep run in the Conference League. Let’s hope that Luis is backed and given the best opportunity to do that.
