Olympique Lyon Coach Explains Endrick's Exclusion from Starting XI to Prevent Injury

Fonseca, the coach of French club Olympique Lyon, confirmed that the decision to keep Brazilian forward Endrick on the bench during the recent match against Paris FC was aimed at protecting the player from injury. The coach explained that this step was necessary to avoid losing the player's services amidst a busy schedule, emphasizing that the technical staff is working hard to reduce the number of absences in the squad during the upcoming period.

Speaking about the reasons behind this decision, Fonseca pointed out that Endrick has played a series of intense matches recently, which represents a significant physical load on him after a year of very limited appearances before his move to the French club. Fonseca stated: “If Endrick had started today, we would have risked another injury. We do not want to take risks and lose more players,” highlighting the technical management's keenness to carefully manage the Brazilian talent's playing minutes.

These statements come at a time when Endrick's total appearances for Olympique Lyon have reached 787 minutes since joining in the last winter transfer window, following a period at Spanish club Real Madrid where his total appearances did not exceed 99 minutes between August and January. However, the player has not managed to score since February 4, which coincides with the club going through a difficult period in terms of results.

On the other hand, Olympique Lyon is suffering from a series of negative results, having failed to secure a win in four consecutive matches. The team narrowly avoided defeat in their last match against Paris FC thanks to Tolisso's penalty goal in the 96th minute, which further underscores the team's need to maintain the readiness of all its key players to get back on track in upcoming competitions.