Unsolved mysteries, in an Athletic key

Writing these lines, I don’t know what Athletic did last night against Valencia at the Mestalla. Valverde, regardless of the final result, will have to face this event without the help of two of the most important football players in his team. Nothing new on the other hand, since the contribution of both so far this campaign has not reached the expectations due to a simple or not so simple question, among other things, their respective physical problems.

Iñigo Martínez and Ander Herrera, the two absentees in question, have spent more time in the infirmary than on the pitch this season. The rojiblanco centre-back, whose future seems far from Lezama, started with a knee problem in the summer followed by plantar fasciitis in the winter. To this day, he still does not rejoin the group work.

summer boost

The midfielder from Bilbao, for his part, arrived as a reinforcement from PSG at the very beginning of the championship, but he has not yet finished gaining continuity due to his muscular discomfort. His last appearance took place in Balaídos. The team was playing better than Celta, but they were replaced at half time without any explanation from the coach in this regard and the team went from dominating to dominated, from giving the feeling that they could win to having the certainty that they will end. up the scoring. And so was the goal, of course, of Iago Aspas.

Herrera was again in the squad against Cádiz the following day without playing and shortly before the team’s trip to Valencia his absence was officially announced due to injury. One more. It’s raining, pouring.

Valverde, in other words, did not get the continuity he wanted from the contest of two of the team’s great references. The team, it is true, did not suffer without them. What remains to be known is what will happen if both are at the top. Unsolved mysteries in a rojiblanca key.