Marco Silva eyes fitness gains for El Karouani and Echeverri in international break | OneFootball

Marco Silva plans to use the international break to sharpen the fitness of El Karouani and Echeverri with individualised work at Benfica Campus. According to Glorioso 1904, the pause has left the training base sparsely populated, offering the staff time to focus on the late-window arrivals.

With more than two weeks without matches, both players can build rhythm and edge closer to optimum levels, particularly the Moroccan left-back, who joined short of the desired condition. Unlike João Palhinha, who completed pre-season with Bayern Munique and played friendlies, El Karouani had been training largely on his own before signing.

He arrived without ideal match sharpness. Despite starting against Milan, El Karouani is still some way from the level targeted by Silva, so the break is viewed as a chance to intensify his workload.

The aim is to put El Karouani in position, in the short term, to genuinely contest the starting role with Samuel Dahl. The Swede began the season as first choice and José Neto has also trained with the senior squad, while recruiting a new left-back underlines Silva’s push for greater competition.

Echeverri also needs to regain rhythm. The Argentine began pre-season at Manchester City but was not used by Enzo Maresca, recording no minutes in official matches for the club.

Source: Glorioso 1904

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