Rafael backs Roger, on Arboleda ‘disappearance’: “We found out late” | OneFootball

One of the leaders of the squad, goalkeeper Rafael came to the defense of coach Roger Machado’s work in charge of São Paulo. Before last Saturday’s 4-1 rout of Cruzeiro, in the 10th round of the Brazilian Championship, the coach had his name booed by part of the crowd during the lineup announcement.

Roger was hired after Hernán Crespo was dismissed and arrived under distrust from the fans. A portion of the supporters was already unhappy with the negative run of three games without a win, but the coach made decisions, changed the lineup, and responded with the rout over Cruzeiro.

So far, Roger Machado has recorded three wins, two losses, and one draw in charge of São Paulo, with nine goals scored and five conceded.

“I’m privileged to work with so many great coaches. Crespo, Dorival... I’ve already worked with wonderful coaches. Roger is also a great coach; he isn’t here by chance, he’s here because of the work he’s been doing, and has always done, in football,” the goalkeeper said.

“He’s a very successful guy who talks to everyone, who has been adding a lot and has already brought a lot of his work. We’ve absorbed many things, and proof of that is the game we played today, with a different tactical setup. We’re having many options with him, and we have a lot of confidence in our coaching staff,” he added.

Arboleda’s disappearance

As one of the captains of the Tricolor squad, Rafael was asked about defender Arboleda’s ‘disappearance’. The defender allegedly traveled to Ecuador without informing São Paulo, did not report with the squad this Saturday at SuperCT, and was left out of the matchday squad for the game.

Internally, São Paulo was told that Arboleda had traveled to Ecuador in a hurry. The club, however, has no official confirmation of the player’s whereabouts, since it tried to contact him and got no response. The Tricolor also sought information from the player’s representatives and family members, but they did not get an answer either.

Rafael revealed that the group was caught by surprise by Arboleda’s absence, but prioritized the match against Cruzeiro and did not go deeper into the matter.

“We found out at the last minute that he wouldn’t come to the game, but because of how close it was and how important today’s match was, we needed the win and we talked about focusing on the game. We always leave those other issues for the board to resolve. We also don’t know what happened, so we have to listen to Arboleda. But everyone who was there was focused on the game, and we said that this other issue would be resolved internally,” Rafael explained.

“We’ll listen to Arboleda, see the position of the coaching staff and the board, but we didn’t go deeply into what happened because of that. We needed to stay focused so we could give our best on the field. This will certainly be resolved internally starting tomorrow,” the goalkeeper concluded.

Coach Roger Machado was also asked about Arboleda’s ‘disappearance,’ but like Rafael, he preferred to leave the decision about the defender’s future in the hands of the board.

São Paulo’s next matches

Boston River-URU x São Paulo (first round of the Copa Sudamericana) Date and time: 04/07 (Tuesday), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Estadio Centenario, in Montevideo (Uruguay)

Vitória x São Paulo (11th round of the Brasileirão) Date and time: 04/11 (Saturday), at 4:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Barradão, in Salvador (BA)

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