Santos return with near full squad, focus on mid-season break

Santos return with near full squad, focus on mid-season break Santos players returned to training this Monday (22) at CT Rei Pelé after a 21-day vacation period. The only absence for the mid-season training period is Neymar, who is representing the club at the 2026 World Cup. The ge website detailed Peixe’s plans for the period. Check them out below: Initially, the Santos board planned to hold training sessions at CT Rei Pelé until the end of June and then, in the first weeks of July, travel to Portugal for a mid-season training camp. However, the packed schedule — due to the Copa Sudamericana playoff and the likely rescheduling of the Brasileirão match against Botafogo — forced the cancellation of the trip to Europe. As an alternative, the coaching staff is considering organizing friendly matches in Brazil to maintain match fitness, although no opponents have been officially confirmed so far. Coach Cuca’s focus for the training period For the first time since taking charge of Peixe, coach Cuca will have about a month free of official matches to work with the squad. The coaching staff has defined three priorities for this World Cup break: Physical Recovery: The internal assessment is that the short preseason and the marathon of matches in the first half of the year wore down the squad. The focus will be on restoring the players’ fitness. Tactical and Technical Adjustments: Cuca intends to test tactical variations and adapt players to new roles. Experiments that had already been tried before the break, such as moving Miguelito and Robinho Jr. deeper to play as attacking midfielders, are expected to be developed further. Clearing Out the Medical Department: There was strong expectation surrounding the return of midfielders Gabriel Menino and João Schmidt, as well as attacking midfielder Thaciano. The three players, who had been injured, are expected to begin on-field activities with the rest of the group as early as this Monday. Alongside the training sessions, Santos’ board is working behind the scenes with an eye on the transfer window that opens in July. The club needs to sell players to balance its finances, as recent reports indicate that the club’s debt has surpassed the R$ 1 billion mark. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.