São Paulo lose two more centre-backs, Crespo to improvise in defence | OneFootball

São Paulo lose two more centre-backs, Crespo to improvise in defence | OneFootball

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·30 September 2025

São Paulo lose two more centre-backs, Crespo to improvise in defence

Article image:São Paulo lose two more centre-backs, Crespo to improvise in defence

As if the poor performance on the field, which has led São Paulo to accumulate four consecutive defeats, weren’t enough, the immense political crisis generating protests from the fans, the club is also suffering from more and more absences on the field with each match.

In the 1-0 defeat to Ceará on Monday night (29th) at Morumbi, Hernán Crespo lost two more center-backs for the next round of the Brasileirão and may have to improvise in the position for the match against another team from Ceará, Fortaleza.


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First, after just 30 minutes of play, the experienced Rafael Tolói felt discomfort in his left thigh and had to be substituted by Sabino still in the first half.

The initial information regarding the defender’s injury is not cause for concern. He reportedly asked to leave the match more as a precaution to avoid aggravating the injury. However, it is still a big problem for Crespo.

If Tolói is unavailable next Thursday (10/2), the coach sees his defense depleted, as Ferraresi is also out with a left adductor injury, with no set return date to the Tricolor.

If he lost two defenders to injury, São Paulo will also be without the Ecuadorian Arboleda against Fortaleza, as he received his third yellow card in the match at Morumbi and will have to serve a suspension in the next round of the Brazilian Championship.

To make matters worse, there was another scare. Alan Franco also felt pain against Ceará, but did not need to be substituted and no problem was announced. But he also requires internal monitoring, as, alongside Sabino, he should be the only center-back available.

WILL THE FORMATION CHANGE?

Since he uses a system with three defenders, Crespo, as in the derby against Santos, may bring Negrucci into defense, a midfielder from the youth academy who has been training for some time in this role.

The Argentine coach was asked about the topic in the press conference after Thursday’s defeat and indicated that he does not intend to change the 3-5-2 formation, even with missing players.

“Today, we played with a back four in the second half. We can play that way, but it depends on the match. Is it working? It’s not. So should we throw everything away? No, let’s see. I think, for the system and the characteristics of the players we have, the three center-backs work, but we can change,” Crespo pointed out.

“Do we lose a bit of balance? Yes, but it’s a personal preference. There’s no magic formula. It’s about trying to have an identity regardless of the tactical model. We’ll play on Thursday, what will we come up with? We try to do our best always knowing there’s no magic formula. I think the team performs better when we play with three healthy center-backs,” the Tricolor manager added.

For defense, there’s also the name of Igão, a promising center-back from the youth academy who alternates between playing for the under-20s and training with Crespo at Barra Funda, and has already been called up by the Argentine. He could also be an alternative for the depleted position.

São Paulo will now have two training sessions at the Barra Funda training center, this Tuesday (30th) and Wednesday (10/1), in preparation for the match at Arena Castelão midweek, for the 26th round of the Brasileirão.

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

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