Marco Silva spots flaws in 2 Benfica players, wants to improve them | OneFootball

The break for international duty has left Benfica Campus practically deserted and significantly reduced Marco Silva’s working group. Even so, the period without competition also offers an important opportunity for the coaching staff: to work more individually with El Karouani and Echeverri, the last two signings to arrive at the Luz at the close of the transfer window.

More than two weeks without matches allow both players to build up match sharpness and get closer to their best physical levels, especially in the case of the Moroccan full-back, who arrived at Benfica below the desired fitness condition. Unlike João Palhinha, who completed pre-season with Bayern Munich and even featured in some friendlies, El Karouani had been training practically on his own before heading to the Luz.

For that reason, the left-back arrived at Benfica without the ideal competitive rhythm. Although he was already named in the starting line-up against Milan, El Karouani is still far from the condition Marco Silva wants. The competitive break therefore appears as an opportunity for the Moroccan to step up his work and raise his physical levels.

The aim is to get El Karouani into a position where, in the short term, he can genuinely challenge Samuel Dahl for a starting spot. The Swede began the season as first choice, while José Neto has also been working with the first team, but the signing of a new left-back shows Marco Silva’s intention to increase competition for the role.

Echeverri also arrived at the Luz needing to regain match sharpness. The Argentine began pre-season at Manchester City, but was never used by Enzo Maresca, failing to register a single minute in official matches for the Citizens.

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