Wounds, Wounds…and more Wounds. The fan’s life Sao Paulo over the past 3 seasons he has been even more worried about injured players than about potential threats from opponents.
In 2023, the situation was perhaps the most critical of recent times in Morumbi, with the team accumulating dozens of absences, including surgical and muscular cases, in each match, further complicating Rogério’s life. Ceni, who even had 14 absences in a single match Paulista Championship.
The most injury-prone side in the country’s top flight, Sao Paulo certainly didn’t have that expectation, all the more so under Julio Casares.
Also in 2021, with already a high number of injuries, Casares renamed the sector Medical Excellence Division (DEM), adding « Plus » to the name of the former Reffis, in addition to bringing more modern equipment to the department.
At the beginning of the century, Reffis was considered something of the last generation, where São Paulo often used the injury recovery center to recover reinforcements, as were the cases of Luizão, Adriano Imperador, Ricardo Oliveira, among others. .
Currently, the resumption of blessed athletes is the club’s biggest problem, with many not leaving Refis or going straight to the operating table.
For the quarter-finals of Paulista Championship Against Água Santa next Monday at the Allianz Parque, there could be around 10 absences for Rogério Ceni: Rafinha, Igor Vinícius, Moreira, Arboleda, Ferraresi, André Anderson, Talles Costa, Calleri, Erison, Pedrinho, Beraldo and Gaius . Arboleda, Beraldo and Erison on the dependence of chances to at least stay on the bench.
According to a survey carried out by historian Alexandre Giesbrecht, of the « Anotações Tricolores », the last time the tricolor had the DM completely emptied was in April 2022. And the list of injured should not stop if early, since there are cases of medizinlike those of Moreira, Talles Costa and perhaps Igor Vinícius, which do not have a return date.
What does São Paulo say about excess injuries?
4:07
The president of the medical department of São Paulo “defends”: “We must respect the structure of the calendar”
The tricolor suffered numerous sports injuries at the start of the season
“Series We have professionals. Even Rogério Ceni mentioned the important reforms the other day. So we changed the structure, we improved a lot. Today, Alexandre Pato trains here and has praised the structure a lot. What is happening is that we have to observe is the structuring of a table, of a calendar. We have a very wet ground, we are in a pre-season. And there’s a lot of trauma. It should be understood that the medical service is a consequence. The player is injured in the game. or in training. And the DM receives the athlete. The athlete is a patient. And each patient reacts in a way. We also have the vision that when we propose a surgical intervention, we must also respect the clinical side of the patient’s posture. . All this is what São Paulo does with great professionalism. The other day, I was talking to Moisés Cohen, Federation medicine. And he said he has reported the increase in injuries in this Paulista Championship. It could be the start of the season, I It could be due to bad fields that are very soggy. Sao Paulo is quiet. Which department of medical excellence produces everything,” said Julio Casares, president of São Paulo, in an interview with ESPN.
“First you have the technical problem of images, of resonance. Then, before having an evaluation. If the athlete has a recommendation for surgery, but there’s a chance they can’t operate conventionally, let’s try. The operation is always invasive. Of course, responsibly, with the consent of the athlete. São Paulo does not come out of operation. Unless it’s a ligament injury, which has nothing to do with it. But an injury or other that may merit a conventional attempt, it’s worth it for the athlete’s career, his recovery. The decision to have surgery or not is an agreement between the medical field, physical preparation, physiology, physiotherapy and the athlete himself. Calleri, for example, is trying to recover without needing an operation and we want him to recover. If there is a conclusion that surgery is the way to go, we will talk to him. But he’s very excited. »
treatment preservative
The term has been used frequently by the club’s medical department in recent times. And when I call that he would try conservative treatment for his ankle injury, surely fans started to worry because of examples that haven’t worked lately.
Diego Costa and Luan are cases that underwent treatment, did not have the proposed result and underwent surgery. Rafinha is currently in this process due to an ankle injury and does not have a return date. Igor Vinícius, meanwhile, suffered pubalgia last year, underwent treatment and is now considering surgery after injuring the area again.
Andre Anderson arrived on loan from Lazio mid last year and has played just 12 times for the club, the last of them in November 2022. The midfielder is almost always part of the malfeasance with muscle aches.
A revelation from Cotia, Walce returned to play in 2023 on loan at Juventude after 3 years away due to 3 knee surgeries which failed to solve the athlete’s cruciate ligament problem. At the beginning of the year, São Paulo chose to transfer the defense to the Rio Grande do Sul team precisely so that he could resume his career.
Ceni’s suffering
With more than a dozen injured, Rogério Ceni has not had it easy in the task of rebuilding the club alongside the current board. During the match against Botafogo-SP last Sunday, the coach had to play with improvisations from the centre-forward (Galoppo), defender (Pablo Maia) and full-back (Caio Paulista).
Even with reinforcements more in line with his playing philosophy, Ceni isn’t much of the squad available to him to train and choose the team he would like in matches.
« Unfortunately, there are a large number of players with injuries that are not muscular. When you have 11 players out, it weighs on us. Slowly we are strengthening the team. It is not enough to have the player. He you have to have them, the old ones and leave them in the best conditions, ”said the Ceni, after the end of the paulista group stage.
“In general we can perform better, but to perform well we need to have everyone able to train. We will have greater competition, greater quality », analyzed the coach, after the victory over saints a Morumbi.
