Dorival Jr shows concern over possible Memphis injury | OneFootball

After the 1-1 draw against Flamengo in the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship, Corinthians coach Dorival Jr. gave a press conference in which he assessed the match and expressed concern, mainly about a possible injury to striker Memphis Depay.

Initially, regarding the match, Dorival praised Timão's attitude throughout the game, including the play that led to the team's goal, but emphasized that the victory slipped away also due to the refereeing.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

“What makes me happy is the attitude our team has. After almost two months, I was able to repeat the lineup that played against Flamengo in Brasília. What we see is a solid performance, seeking the goal, naturally facing some difficulties due to the sequence we need, but it’s a team looking to develop. If you watch the goal we scored, the ball starts at Hugo’s feet, bounces on the field, goes to the other side, switches sides again, making the rival’s line move. There are the movements, the passing exchanges inside, the switch of play, and then the box is filled with Yuri’s finish. It’s the typical play we execute daily, and this repetition gave us the chance to find a goal in a move like that.”

“As for the refereeing, it was clear once again. The uncalled penalty is absurd, not even reviewed by VAR, which is even worse. A detail that could have given us a very important result here. We looked for the goal at all costs, we were an incisive team. I would have preferred if maybe that sending off hadn’t happened, because from that point, the game was over. And this has been happening frequently. We don’t have 60 minutes of play in any of the matches played. This is a very important factor because it makes it harder for those who are pushing forward. It’s a fact we need to pay special attention to. It happens to both sides, and it’s taking away the brilliance of a match.”, Dorival Jr. added about the refereeing in the match.

When speaking about Memphis Depay’s injury, the coach highlighted the care he took with the player by resting the number 10 against Chapecoense and explained what the player said about feeling his right thigh muscle “tangle up.”

“It’s a shame what happened, he felt discomfort, according to him the sensation was that the muscle ‘tangled up’, just to try to explain. At the moment he struck, I think he opened up too much and felt it, that’s what he said, that he felt his leg jump. It was on the last ball he switched to Bidu in the play for the goal. Then you have to change the setup, because we have two attacking players and we were looking for interesting alternatives. Garro’s entry completely changes the context.”

“It’s important to explain. We took every possible precaution with Memphis to avoid exposing him to a situation like this, holding him back in the previous round, and even so, this injury still happened. It shows that we take every possible care and, suddenly, even taking all precautions, these situations still occur. Sometimes we don’t do what we want, but what’s necessary to have everyone fit from one round to the next.“

“That’s why we make changes from one round to the next and, sometimes, people don’t understand. But this is yet another very clear example of that. An injury like this is bad for the club, for the player, and now he’ll have tests tomorrow. There should be some significant change for the sequence with Corinthians and the national team.”, concluded the alvinegro coach.

Memphis will be re-evaluated on the morning of this Monday (23), when there will be a more precise definition regarding his physical condition and the possibility of remaining in the Netherlands national team call-up. The final decision, however, belongs to the Dutch federation, which may opt for a cut, a new evaluation in the destination country, or keeping the player on the list. In principle, if there are no obstacles, the plan is for the player to travel to Europe by the end of the day.

Dorival Jr. will now have nine days to work with the team until the match against Fluminense, for the ninth round of the Brazilian Championship, scheduled for after the FIFA break. For the international match period, Corinthians had three players called up: André Carrillo for Peru, Memphis Depay for the Netherlands, and Hugo Souza for the Brazilian National Team.

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