Engineering against COVID-19

If you are not haunted by a curse, sometimes it may seem like it. Since Las Palmas inaugurated the Ciudad Deportiva, back in July 2019, the plague of injuries has not ceased, so many times the state of the grass on the Barranco Seco hill has been denounced, such as that of the Gran Canaria Stadium. Accompanying its particular injury pandemic, that of COVID-19 has been significantly primed with the Gran Canaria entity in recent days.

It happens that, since the squad returned from Mallorca, since they flew with some infected among the crew members, they have given positive Rober, Clemente and Jonathan Silva, and Edu Espiau will also remain isolated at least until Saturday, when another PCR test will be done.

Thus, this domino effect of contagions causes that, for the umpteenth time, Pepe Mel has to reinvent the team, pure engineering, even more difficult against the entity of his next rival, the favorite Leganés. It so happens that, after the victory in Mallorca, and the team having been freed from any Copa del Rey commitment, the Las Palmas coach insisted on the need, now, of having a short squad. “It is absurd to have 28 footballers when we only have one game a week,” he said, before insisting: “We do not have Unit A and B unfortunately. The Navalcarnero thing hurts us a lot, especially to the squad due to the fact that the matches are extended in time since they will no longer be Sunday and Wednesday and, therefore, the players that I am going to use are shortened. My idea is to use a group of 14/15 players and repeat the lineup whenever possible. They are the ones who have lost the opportunity; they take off and put on themselves. “

Of the 15 footballers most used by Mel, at the moment three of them remain in quarantine for one reason or another and, therefore, they will not be available against Leganés: Rober (20 games and 1,481 minutes), Clemente (11 and 554) and Espiau (17 and 800). With the defense (Lemos, Suárez, Curbelo, Dani Castellano) and the double pivot (Sergio Ruiz and Javi Castellano) more than clear and for the moment without casualties, the attack line is the most punished.

Happens that Rober is more than indisputable for Pepe Mel, It does not matter if it was as a right winger, his natural position, or acting as the only forward. An alternative to this was Clemente, who was finally beginning to like himself and his coach. For its part, Espiau happens to be one of the catalysts for the attack front, only 8 starts, so Pepe Mel will also have to dig to find a possible substitute this Sunday for Sergio Araujo, who remains the only forward since Iemmello is getting closer and closer to confirming his departure from the club.

In the same situation the UD finds itself with Dani Castellano, already indisputable on the left side against the weight loss of Jonathan Silva (8 games, 622 minutes) in the team.

Touch, in any case, take a look at the quarry. In the absence of signings, and with Rafa Mujica waiting, there is no choice but to pull the most prominent items from the lower categories. Likewise, the option to play the last round with footballers like Aridai or Maikel Mesa, present as they seem in all the pools to leave the club in search of lost prominence. Beyond words and good intentions, current events and COVID-19 oblige.