Crespo may have to rethink tactics as São Paulo suffer injury blows | OneFootball

Hernán Crespo may be forced to change São Paulo’s tactical system in the upcoming matches due to the high incidence of injuries in the squad. This Monday, still in the first half of the match against Ceará, Rafael Tolói had to be substituted after reporting a muscle problem, adding yet another headache for the coaching staff.

If the injury is confirmed, Tolói will join Ferraresi as center-backs with physical issues at this point in the season. Thus, coach Hernán Crespo will be left with only Alan Franco and Sabino as options for the position, since Arboleda will have to serve an automatic suspension after receiving a yellow card this Monday.

Precisely because of this, São Paulo may have to give up the system with three center-backs for the match against Fortaleza next Thursday, although Crespo does not seem very convinced that his team can perform better in a different tactical setup.

“What happened against Ceará and against LDU? We played with four [defenders in the second half, two center-backs and two full-backs]. We can do it, we all can. Is it advisable? It depends on the game. Is it working? No, it’s not working. Against LDU it didn’t work and against Ceará it didn’t work. ‘Ah, so should we throw it in the trash?’ No, let’s try, let’s continue and see. I think for the system and the characteristics of the players we have, the three center-backs worked. Can we change? Yes. Against Sport we played with four [defenders]. Do we maybe lose a bit of balance [with four defenders]? Yes. But, it’s a personal preference. Playing with three center-backs, we can play better with the characteristics we have. I played in other countries with four at the back. There’s no magic formula. The magic formula is to have an identity regardless of the tactical system,” commented Crespo.

If he chooses to maintain the tactical system with three center-backs that has been used since his arrival at São Paulo, Crespo will not have any players for the position available on the bench and will be forced to improvise in the sector.

In the derby against Santos, for example, defensive midfielder Negrucci, a youth academy product, was chosen to play on the right side of the three-man defense—Tolói and Sabino were the other two.

“Changing so much, with three or four days between games, what are we going to invent? We’ll see what we can do, but always trying to do our best, always thinking that there is no magic formula. I think the team performed better when we played with three healthy center-backs, it’s important to have 11 healthy players, and right now we have to start bringing in players who are coming back, players who are playing a lot and didn’t play before, maybe they’re feeling some fatigue. There’s a lot we have to assess to put together a lineup,” concluded the São Paulo coach.

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