The relentless fixture calendar at Vasco da Gama is beginning to extract a steep price from midfielder Nuno. Since his arrival at the Brazilian club, the player has accumulated a staggering number of appearances, a workload he was completely unaccustomed to during his recent tenure in Portuguese football.
This abrupt and intense increase in physical demands is now widely believed to be the primary cause of his recent decline in performance, a trend that has worried fans and the technical staff during the team’s latest critical outings.
Nuno has currently participated in 35 matches for Vasco in the current competitive season. This figure is highly revealing when juxtaposed with his statistics from his time in Portugal. Across the entire 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 seasons combined, Nuno totaled only 38 official games.
Should the player feature in just four more games, he will have surpassed the cumulative two-year playing time he experienced abroad, demonstrating the extreme shift in intensity and frequency of matches required in the Brazilian league structure.
Sources close to the club confirm that the technical staff is monitoring Nuno’s physical state closely. While his effort and commitment remain unquestioned, the symptoms of accumulated physical fatigue are becoming evident. This fatigue often manifests as reduced intensity, slower recovery times between sprints, and difficulties maintaining concentration and pace throughout the full 90 minutes of play.
The coaching staff now faces a crucial dilemma: how to effectively manage Nuno`s minutes to ensure sufficient recovery and mitigate the risk of injury, all while the team is in desperate need of his quality and presence during a critical phase of the championship. Specialized physical conditioning sessions and strategic player rotation are now seen as necessary measures to stabilize the midfielder`s form for the remainder of the season.
Rupert Fawcett
