Diogo Dalot has built himself into one of Manchester United’s more reliable players physically, and there has been plenty of work behind that.
The Portugal international has worked with performance coach Mário Simões since 2019. And that’s quite interesting when looking at Dalot’s injury record.
His early years at United included several physical problems. A groin injury kept him out for 77 days in 2019, while a hip problem cost him another 45 days that year.
Since then, the longer absences have largely disappeared. Dalot has had four recorded injuries since 2022, with none keeping him out for longer than three weeks.
His confidence in the setup is pretty strong, too. He even brought Manchester United teammate Lisandro Martínez into the picture this summer.
Simões has now explained some of the work behind Dalot’s physical development, and how Licha ended up joining him.
Seven years of work with Dalot
Speaking to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, Simões revealed Dalot even worked with his team during his summer break.
“Dalot was with us in Guimarães and Lisandro Martínez in Comporta for a few days,” he said.
“They were preparing for the start of work with their national teams while enjoying their holidays with their families.”
“After the World Cup, all our athletes, both those who went to the United States and the others, followed our off-season plan, adapted to the time available before returning to their clubs.”
“Some did it remotely, others came to Portugal, and our team was also travelling throughout this period – Brazil, Ibiza, Tenerife, Stockholm, Lisbon – to be with the athletes.”
When asked about the Manchester United fullback, Simões offered a good insight into why Dalot has generally been so available in recent years.
“Dalot has been with us since 2019. He’s a very hard worker and has very structured sleep and nutrition routines. The aim is to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.”
“With less time to train during the season, the company’s main job is to keep the athletes healthy for training and matches.
“They’re very genetically gifted players. They’re Formula 1 cars, and the job is to have them finely tuned so they can train and play in the best possible condition.”
Diogo Dalot brought Lisandro Martínez along
One of most interesting details here is that Diogo Dalot clearly trusts the setup enough to bring a teammate into it. Lisandro Martínez joined him in working with Simões’ team before the World Cup.
That’s a big deal given the Argentine’s difficult injury history at Old Trafford. Martínez then managed to play throughout Argentina’s World Cup campaign before getting some rest afterwards. He’s since returned to United in good shape.
Dalot’s own development makes the recommendation understandable. His availability has become much more consistent since 2019. And Simões makes clear there isn’t one magic exercise responsible for that.
“The gym doesn’t work miracles,” he said. “It’s about building an entire support structure that takes away the work and responsibility of dealing with all these details, so they can focus on football and their families.”
For Manchester United, the results of that seven-year partnership are pretty easy to appreciate. Dalot’s body gave him plenty of problems when he was younger. These days, keeping himself available has become one of his strengths.
