Last appearance: September 1st, Roma-Milan 1-2. Estimated return: after the October break. In the middle, the silence that hides a problem. There is an inconvenient truth that is reluctantly talked about in Trigoria: Chris Smalling is not well, he is not yet healed and cannot train. Mourinho’s words were striking, so different in content from one week to the next: before the match against Empoli he considered it unlikely but possible that his defensive leader would recover, at least for the bench; after the trip to Turin however, with a bitter smile he admitted that he was not optimistic on a quick return.
Rome, Smalling’s ordeal
The fact is that Smalling has been ill since the start of the training camp. All summer he has been managing a now chronic problem – not muscular but tendon, in a part of the body that had already given him problems in the past – which prevented him from carrying out a complete and complete preparation. This perhaps explains his terrible start to the championship: in the first three matchdays he was one of Roma’s worst, entering as a negative protagonist in at least three goals conceded by Rui Patricio. But now we know there was a reason: if an athlete’s physical condition is not good, performance inevitably suffers.
Smalling, the comeback plan
And then, coming to current events: during the September break Smalling followed a personalized program of rehabilitation, alternating with some attempts at running on the pitch. But the pain didn’t go away. Hence the idea, shared with Mourinho and the medical staff, to stop until he is fully recovered. There is no internal rift on this front. If anything, a bit of concern because Smalling, fresh from a rich contract renewal, is no longer a child: he will turn 34 in November.
Mourinho is also waiting for Sanches
His 2023 has not been memorable so far: from the muscle injury sustained in the Europa League quarter-final against Feyenoordlast April 20, Smalling missed 7 out of 13 league matches, in addition to the semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen (in which he played only 12 minutes in Germany) andThis season’s European debut in Tiraspol. Now he will have to give up the trip to Genoa and probably also the last three matches (Frosinone, Servette and Cagliari) before the next break. There he will exploit the break for a mini-athletic training to get him back into shape. In the meantime Mourinho can only hope that injuries will stop plaguing the squad: even with Renato Sanches, twice stopped by the musclesthe match is set for October 22nd against Monza.
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Rome, training towards Genoa: Pellegrini and Aouar are there© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2023-09-27 05:27:26
#Smalling #background #truth #injury #return
