Roger defends full-strength call and reveals plan: “One game at a time” | OneFootball

Coach Roger Machado explained how he has been managing the player rotation at this stage and why he chose to field his strongest lineup in São Paulo’s 2-0 win over O’Higgins this Tuesday (14) at Morumbi, a result that left the team alone at the top of Group C in the Copa Sudamericana.

“It’s one game at a time. Today we had players like Bobadilla, Luciano and Calleri return. In the match against Vitória, Enzo (Díaz) came off and had his workload reduced. We keep track of matches, travel demands, and the scoreline often determines whether to give a player more minutes or let a certain player rest,” he explained.

“That’s how it will be, one game at a time, like it was in Uruguay. The decision on minutes isn’t just based on the competition, but also on a medium- and long-term strategy for athletes with physical issues, as is the case with Marcos, who has a heavy match load, to avoid problems. But we are going to have problems, we need to manage the players’ workload,” he said.

Tonight’s match was marked by the loss of two players. Ferreirinha ended up being ruled out before the game, and still in the first half, Marcos Antônio had to be substituted.

According to Roger, the coaching staff is aware of the workload assessment and is trying to find a balance with the demands.

“This was my ninth game of the year. We’re talking about nine matches in the span of a month. There was a break for the FIFA international window, which makes things even more packed afterward. Naturally, precisely because of the schedule in a World Cup year, everything became very condensed. We don’t plan for these losses, but we have to understand them by measuring the workload and taking players out to minimize them. We managed to hold Luciano back for one or two games, Sabino is also being held back, and he should already be available at the weekend. Even with all the experience and equipment, you’re going to have minor problems — there’s no way around that,” he said.

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