He can work on all that without actually playing a game. I'm sure he's still owed to kick a ball and do strengthen training as long as he's not involved at a club
I assume the different federations have similar rules and there's a hell of a lot of them (I just read about 30 pages of doping offence rules) and on UEFA website it says the following about returning to training... 109. As an exception to Regulation 105, a Player may return to train with a team or to use the facilities of a club or other member organisation of a FIFA member association or any other Signatory during the shorter of: (1) the last two (2) months of the Player’s period of Ineligibility, or (2) the last one quarter of the period of Ineligibility imposed.
Which definitely makes sense. The penalty is until November, it's not until November and then the time it would take to get him up to speed to play. The expectation should be that when his ban is over he's able to essentially be available for selection, otherwise you're compounding his punishment.
Hiring a PT just isn’t the same as training with teammates and playing 11v11 football. When a player has been sitting on the bench for ages and finally makes an appearance, we’ll sometimes mention that they look ‘rusty’. That’s sharpness, not fitness. It’s about keeping up with the rhythm and intensity of a game, not how knackered they are after running.
That's why I said he'd be back in January or hopefully Christmas. Why would he just be concentrating on not being knackered after running. You can do a lot more on your own or with a personal trainer than just running
I know but no amount of cardio or strength conditioning is a comparable substitute to training with teammates and playing games. I’d expect him to be fitter and stronger when he returns. I don’t expect him to match sharp for a while.
Looks like an agent getting his clients name out to me. Doubt there'll be a whole lot of substance to any "talks" until its confirmed what division we'll be recruiting for.
So from reading that, Zambrano would be back 5th September (ish) to fully train with the club. I’d therefore expect him to be back under consideration for selection well before the year end.
All that Zambrano will be missing is the game conditioning. He will have done plenty of gym work, ball work etc away from the club. Id expect a number of 11 v 11 games to be arranged behind closed doors to build this up and would think he’d be capable of minutes from the bench as soon as his ban ends.
