Lucas’ return at São Paulo slowed by psychological factors | OneFootball

It almost seems hard to believe. But with each passing week, São Paulo piles up more injured players for its medical department. With an astonishing twelve absences in the match against Grêmio, the team suffered another blow, left-back Wendell, who may miss the rest of the season.

In the press conference after the 2–0 defeat to Grêmio, even the Argentine coach Hernán Crespo appeared incredulous at the number of injuries the club has been accumulating.

“I didn’t think about Mirassol, I have to think day by day, the surprises here are constant, I don’t have the privilege other coaches have to think ahead, unbelievable things happen here every day, so we have to adapt. On Sunday, we’ll try to do the best we can and anything can happen,” said the coach, referring to the next Brasileirão fixture, Sunday (19), away from home.

Having lost another player for the next match, Crespo has been gradually bringing the recently recovered Lucas onto the field. Against Grêmio, the number 7 played the entire second half, with a muted performance, unable to produce major attacking plays.

What’s going on with Lucas?

Sidelined after a serious knee injury back in March, during the Paulista Championship, the star tried to return a few times, but always felt pain again, until he underwent another surgery to remove fibrosis at the end of August. He returned in time for the decisive clash against LDU in the Libertadores quarterfinals but couldn’t prevent Tricolor’s elimination.

Since then, he has been rested in other matches and has still not managed to play a full game, still far from 100%. And the problem seems to be in the São Paulo player’s head.

According to ESPN on Friday (17), Lucas Moura is dealing with a lack of confidence and internal insecurity after the last surgery, which has been affecting him on the field.

At the club, Lucas’s case has always been treated as atypical, since various treatments during recovery didn’t have the expected effect. The series of setbacks, combined with the player’s immense desire to play, ended up affecting him in his full return.

Lucas Moura and the São Paulo squad will have two more training sessions, this Friday and Saturday (18), before the next match against Mirassol, for the 29th round of the Brasileirão.

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