Abel praises Palmeiras’ progress, reveals secret to competitiveness | OneFootball

The Palmeiras relieved the pressure after two games without a win by thrashing Vitória 5 to 1 in the second round of the Brazilian Championship. Coach Abel Ferreira, who had already heard "demands" for the weekend's derby, highlighted the team's evolution, praised the competitiveness, and called for unity among the fans.

"With work, with time, with confidence, we are capable of performing as we did today. We know we have a very strong base, but the schedule sometimes becomes almost devastating for the athletes' physical capacity. You saw today what a fresh team is, a recovered team, with dynamics. Why? I'll let you reflect. I know where I am, I know where I live, I know that results dictate everything and that's right, but my job is to help my athletes grow and, when we play poorly, to bring it to the room, analyze, see and repeat. Unfortunately, I can't repeat as I want, due to the schedule we have," analyzed Abel.

The team that defeated Vitória is the base that can be considered the main squad. The coach chose to change all 11 players compared to the team that lost to Botafogo-SP 1-0. Against the Ribeirão Preto team, the coach decided to field a reserve team.

"The truth is that this game started to be won in the last game we lost because you saw a dynamic team, a fresh team, a rested team, and that's it," he said.

"For me, the important thing is that the team scores goals, defends, that the team works collectively and what I asked for was this: I wanted a dynamic team, I want an unpredictable team, a team capable of having a professional game with freedom, but with responsibility and that's what we are trying to do at the beginning of the year: create different dynamics from what we did in the last years. I like this flexibility, I like this unpredictability. I like having this freedom and creating surprises. This is a factor that makes me feel motivated and also makes my players feel motivated," continued the coach.

Abel calls for fan unity

In the final minutes of the match, fans present at the stadium already showed anxiety for the derby and chanted phrases like "it's war." Abel Ferreira called for unity between the fans and the team and asked for calm, saying that "it's not with anxiety that a competitive team is built."

"When we play together, we have always been stronger. When we play together, we are always stronger. Never, in the history of Palmeiras, has it been strong by being divided. And it has always shown strength when we play together. And we need the organized fans, the supporters, and Palmeiras very much. We have to play together. It's not with anxiety that competitive teams are built," emphasized Abel.

"Palmeiras is a club that lives by processes... the results haven't been that bad. We have to trust each other. The fans have to trust the coach, the coach has to trust the player, the players have to trust the fans. The coach has to trust the management. The management has to trust the coach. There is no other way for us to be close to winning unless we all play on the same side," he concluded.

Palmeiras' Situation

With this result, Palmeiras reaches four points in the Brasileirão and rises to the second position, behind Red Bull Bragantino, which has six.

The victory relieves the pressure on Palmeiras before the derby against Corinthians, which takes place on Sunday, in the Paulista Championship. The team led by Abel Ferreira had not won in two games. In the State Championship, they were defeated in the last round by Botafogo-SP.

Next Palmeiras Game

Match: Corinthians vs. Palmeiras Competition: Paulista Championship (7th round) Date and time: February 8, 2026 (Sunday), at 8:30 PM (Brasília time) Location: Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo (SP)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.