Back at São Paulo, what did Maik learn from the ‘Arboleda case’? | OneFootball

Just like Arboleda, right-back Maik, developed at Cotia, was also reinstated to São Paulo’s squad at the start of this week. The young player had been sidelined for indiscipline at the club.

This indiscipline was never explained, leaving room for fans to believe anything. One journalist even reported that the main issue was that the player showed up drunk to a team training session at Barra Funda. The full-back also posted a photo with his teammate Arboleda while the Ecuadorian was training separately. Shortly after these incidents, Maik was removed from the squad without further explanation.

His closest partner at Tricolor, as well as that of other youngsters in the group, is precisely center-back Arboleda, seen as a “father figure” for the boys coming up from Cotia, always described as a “good influence” on the kids.

But is he really? What kind of influence does someone with several controversial incidents at São Paulo — in addition to the biggest stupidity of all, abandoning the club for a month — have on the young Tricolor players looking for their chance to shine?

I have no doubt that “father figure” Arboleda gives tips on nightclubs, parties, and how to drink and train the next day. “Learn from dad,” the Ecuadorian might say — he was even expelled from his national team precisely for taking an underage young teammate to a nightclub.

By bringing the center-back back, Tricolor sends a very clear message: here, people do whatever they want, because there is no leadership. Decisions — such as the one that Arboleda would not return, clearly stated by former director Rui Costa — can change from one day to the next.

The vast majority of Tricolor fans remain outraged by the return of the traitor who even wore a Palmeiras shirt. Dorival Júnior is perhaps one of the least to blame for this decision. He was not there when Arboleda abandoned the team. He arrived later and was asked whether the player could return. That only shows what everyone already knows: São Paulo is a club left adrift and completely lacking leadership in every department.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.