How Benfica created the new Blue leader
CITY ACE DIAS WAS ALWAYS SEEN AS A FUTURE CAPTAIN
“FOR sure,” replies Helder Cristovao when asked if he believes Ruben Dias will succeed Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal’s captain in the coming years.
“And I think in the next few years he will be the captain of Manchester City also.”
In Dias’ first 31 games, the Blues kept 21 clean sheets and pulled clear in the Premier League title race, while Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side are primed for success in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and, of course, the Champions League.
City lost just one of those 31 matches, with Dias’ imperious form a significant factor behind the club’s 28-game unbeaten run - which has also included a remarkable 21 consecutive wins.
It’s little wonder the £65m City paid Benfica for the 23-year-old centre-back is now being dubbed fantastic business.
“He has always been a leader,” says Cristovao, who coached Dias in Benfica’s B team for two seasons.
“We worked on this with him because he wanted to lead all over the pitch and it’s very difficult when you have to focus on your position and you try to correct the forwards. Ruben’s character is very strong and he tried to help everybody on the pitch. We wanted him to focus on his position and control his defensive line. ‘Be the leader in this position and then after this, you can go and help the other guys.’
“He respected this and worked a lot. Now you can see what he’s doing in Manchester is fantastic.
“When he started in Benfica he always knew what he wanted to do in the future. His focus was to go in the first team and to be as professional with Benfica. He didn’t want to go abroad, his focus was to go to the first team here. The focus is work, work, work.
“The meetings we had at Benfica... ‘Ruben is going to become the future captain of Benfica.’ We knew that. When you see a player progress like that, everyone knew he was going to be a
top player.”
With 113 appearances for Benfica, Dias arrived at the Etihad with lots of experience at the highest level. He was expected to succeed, but the speed at which he’s been able to impose himself on the Premier League has been surprising.
The Portuguese has now emerged as a front-runner to win the PFA Player of the Year award, although he faces stern competition from a number of his Blues team-mates for that accolade.
“The way he works in City is more or less the same as what he was doing in Benfica because it is a dominant team,” explains Cristovao. “His focus is to prepare the team for when they lose the ball.
“Everybody is attacking and Ruben is thinking about defending. He is preparing himself and the other guys. When (Riyad) Mahrez and (Raheem) Sterling attack, Ruben is already starting to speak with (John) Stones to prepare for when they lose the ball. You can see this. He’s fantastic.”
Dias is one of four former Benfica stars leading City’s title charge with Ederson, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva also emerging from the Portuguese club’s renowned youth academy.
Jan Oblak, Nelson Semedo, Victor Lindelof, Goncalo Guedes and £113m Joao Felix are five more who have passed through the Estadio da Luz in recent years.
At the recent Business of Football summit, hosted by the Financial Times, Benfica CEO Domingos
Soares explained how his club breeds superstars.
“The most important thing is that 15 years ago in 2006 we decided to have youth development to fight against big clubs in Europe like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Man City,” he said.
“In a country like Portugal where the TV revenues are quite low, it would be impossible. You need to have access to talent and you need to be able to appreciate the good players from the fantastic players.
“Very often it’s not about the talent they have, it’s much more about the mentality. You need to have a winning mentality and you need to have a fighting mentality to succeed at the highest level.”
In addition to leadership, another word that is associated with Dias is ‘preparation.’
“When Ruben went to the first team I always believed he was the one best prepared to go to the first team,” Cristovao adds. “Sometimes players from the B team go to the first team but need some time to adapt, but Ruben was already well prepared physically and mentally.”
Throughout his time at Benfica, Dias was as relentless in the classroom as he was on the training pitch.
Benfica’s academy houses 200 children - many of whom don’t make the grade, but all of them are educated until they turn 18.
Cristovao, whose playing career included a brief spell in England with Newcastle United, explained: “We have a lot of people inside the club, different departments, and we have meetings with the players so they understand how a football player must live.
“The national team has also started to do this kind of work. Benfica is top of things, but all the clubs in Portugal have started to prepare the youngsters in this way because they are the future.”
Dias listened to the tips and tricks former centre-back Cristovao and Benfica’s other coaches offered him during his 12 years at the club. With such commitment to his craft there’s reason to believe City haven’t seen the best of him yet. “He prepares for training, he prepares to play, he prepares to rest,” said Cristovao. “His mentality is the same from 11, 12 years. He knows what he has to do every day. “The way he has adapted to English football is fantastic. We are very proud of him.”
He has always been a leader. He worked a lot and now you can see what he’s doing in Manchester is fantastic