Formed by Luis Castro at Benfica, João Neves (21), now a midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain, impresses with his dominance in aerial duels despite his size. In L’Équipe, the FC Nantes coach (and former youth coach of Neves) explains the reasons behind this success, combining exceptional athletic qualities with outstanding game intelligence. The source highlights the intelligence he shows in attacking space.
Castro: “I said when João arrived that he would become one of the most dominant players in the air.”
“I said when João arrived that he would become one of the most dominant players in the air in the league, and I’m not surprised. Several factors make him effective in this area, starting with his athletic abilities. He’s incredibly strong on his feet, an athlete built on powerful quadriceps and abs.
To beat players who are 1.86 m tall or more in the air, you need something else. The way he attacks space, the way he reads trajectories — it’s exceptionally intelligent.”
Luis Castro isn’t marveling out of nostalgia; he’s describing a player whose development confirms a mechanism already evident in his early years. João Neves, at 1.74m, obviously doesn’t have the height of the towering figures in Ligue 1. Yet, his strength lies elsewhere. His former coach explains that he built himself on a rare athletic foundation for a midfielder: dense quadriceps, locked-in core, and explosive footwork that allow him to leap very quickly without losing his balance. But above all, and this is what Castro emphasizes,
Neves possesses that trajectory-reading ability that makes all the difference: he attacks the space a fraction of a second before the defender, sees the movements unfolding, and places his jump at the perfect moment. It’s less a physical duel than a mental one, where timing becomes a weapon. It’s this movement intelligence that allows him today, at PSG, to regularly beat players measuring 1.86m or more, and to become a completely unexpected aerial threat.
