MLS
Peter Luccin: “Messi and Busquets are clearly the best in MLS”
Luccin has been in the US for ten years and is now FC Dallas assistant coach and speaks to AS ahead of El Clasico in the Lone Star State.
Marseille born Luccin spent nine seasons in Spain and enjoyed time with Celta Vigo, Atlético Madrid, Zaragoza and a loan spell at Racing Santander. The former player is is now 44 years old and after hanging up his boots in 2014, moved into the coaching area and is now assistant to Nico Estévez at FC Dallas. Luccin takes time to talk to AS and analyses the evolution of MLS.
Ten years in Dallas. What is it about the city and FC Dallas that has you so hooked?
When I left Europe, coming here was familiar. I wanted to change culture, learn English and the city offered new opportunities. It wasn’t easy to adjust at first but sports is so important in the city and people are very open here too and I feel there isn’t much stress about.
Have you always had the training bug?
At first I thought it wasn’t for me. When I was young I saw that the coach had many things to do and I just wanted to play. At the age of 29 or 30, it began to interest me. I started talking to a lot of coaches and I started to get interested. It hit me hard and now it’s a passion.
You shared a team with Simeone at Atletico, did you already see that he was destined to become a head coach?
100%! He had everything to be a great coach..passion, he was a great communicator... What he is doing is spectacular. It is not easy to spend more than ten years in Atleti or at a big club as there is a constant pressure to to win.
How far do you feel MLS has come recently?
The league is still behind the level of major European leagues and we can already see that Messi and Busquets are so, so good and these two have hardly trained. Everyone talks about MLS, but it must grow on a conceptual level. I don’t want to be misunderstood, but I want this league to be the best.
“Messi and Busquets, are the best by far, and they’ve barely trained”
As far as Leagues Cup goes, are Inter Miami now automatically favourites?
When you see in such a short time the impact that Messi and Busquets have had... Also on the way the rival teams are affected... You could see signs of that in the matches against Atlanta and Cruz Azul. For the good of the league, I hope that the other teams realize that they have to now compete at a higher level.
Which player would you take to Dallas FC from Madrid and Barça?
Gundogan for sure and maybe Lewandowski. We have a great 9, Jesús Ferreira, but I would take Lewandowski so that I could learn from him. And from Real Madrid, Bellingham and Modric. A year with these players would be amazing.