Abelardo observes with great concern the delicate situation that he has in the center of the field. The casualties and fatigue make a dent in the core of Sporting. El Pitu has only one healthy team (Christian Rivera). The rest? Either they are low (Nacho Méndez, and, still, Gragera), or they are between cottons (Zarfino and Pedro Díaz). Even Nacho Martín, enrolled urgently from the subsidiary, has been suffering from pubic discomfort for a few weeks. The context is suffocating, because Varane and Damián Cáceres will not be able to participate with the first team until the opening of the winter market, in January. The coach has a couple of days (today and tomorrow) to recover troops for a battle in El Alcoraz that is expected to be tough. And the classification does not stifle, but it is already beginning to tighten after five consecutive games without reaping victories. Huesca del Cuco Ziganda will pose a demanding match on the physical scene. And Sporting arrives with just enough. The calendar has not been allied with the rojiblancos either, who face another week playing on Friday.
“I’m beginning to feel tired,” confessed a Christian Rivera yesterday, diminished by fatigue. Since October 7, he has played 820 minutes in 9 games. He only stayed without sweating his shirt in the last twenty in Los Cármenes, with the game resolved for the locals. In the Municipal de Loinaz, for example, he played the 120. His legs have been calling for a truce for a long time. The midfielder from Gijón personifies the anguish that the midfielder presents in this first round: he has gone from being on the starting ramp and playing twenty minutes in eight days to being capital due to the accumulation of casualties in his position. Nacho Méndez, Gragera, Pedro… They have all fallen. One by one. Also Zarfino.
The Uruguayan has been forcing himself for weeks to be available, with tendinitis that makes him play with discomfort. He has already been cared for by the club’s services. He didn’t train yesterday. He did it on the sidelines by being on the edge. Abelardo’s idea was to give him some air in the Cup. But the close result against Beasain forced him to enlist him against the initial forecasts of the coaching staff. Against Leganés he ended up diminished again, taking another beating.
The wear and tear of Rivera and Gio Zarfino worries the technicians and the medical services. They are watching with great concern how a position that was doubled at the close of the winter market is now at its lowest. The risk of injury to the current pairing is increasing.
Although a priori it was not included in the plans of the technicians, Nacho Méndez –as now Campuzano– turned his situation around. That’s why his long-term leave was painful. At the club, in fact, he reflected on the advisability of signing a free player, as has been done now with Bruno at the back. But both Gerardo García and Abelardo himself opted to wait for the winter market. Then they will reflect again on what to do with a demarcation a priori populated, but very worn by a plague of injuries difficult to explain. What can be expected is that it is Varane who is part of the dynamics of the first team. His profile, physical, pleases Mareo.
Peter’s earrings. The positive news is Pedro’s return to training. The midfielder has been out for a month. Out of action since the victory against Eibar, precisely the team’s last victory in the League. A pubalgia has him in suspense since last season. But at that time, the precarious situation of the rojiblanco project, with the obvious risk of leaving professional football by falling into the Primera RFEF well, then prevented him from resting. Pedro, in fact, finished the campaign overcoming the 3,000-minute barrier. Medical specialists maintain that groin pain requires caution and rest as it is a annoying and difficult ailment to overcome. The case of Gragera is different. The Gijón midfielder has been stopped by a quadriceps injury. A few days ago he had an MRI, confirming that there is an evolution of the injury. Yesterday he worked with the rehabilitator, on the sidelines. His game on Friday against Huesca is very complicated. Almost impossible.
