Diniz wants more intensity from Corinthians, uneasy in Brasileirão | OneFootball

Corinthians hosted Santos on Sunday afternoon (30) at Neo Química Arena for the 25th round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship and were defeated 1-0. With the result, the club from Parque São Jorge remained in 10th place with 32 points, totaling eight wins, eight draws, and nine losses, as well as 26 goals scored and 25 conceded.

After the derby, Fernando Diniz gave a press conference and analyzed the team’s performance. The coach acknowledged that the side lacked aggressiveness and attacking efficiency, explained the lineup choices, detailed André Carrillo’s absence, and commented on Timão’s third straight defeat in the Brasileirão. The manager also spoke about Memphis Depay and the development process of the youngsters used in the first team.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca / Agência Corinthians

Diniz analyzes Corinthians’ attacking difficulties

In the coach’s view, Corinthians delivered a satisfactory defensive performance and limited Santos’ chances. On the other hand, Diniz admitted that his team struggled to turn possession and attacking volume into clear opportunities.

The coach also pointed to problems with occupying the box and delivering crosses. In his view, the issue was not only related to Yuri Alberto’s absence, since Timão tried different alternatives to attack the Santos side.

“So, speaking about the game, I think we put in a performance that deserved a better result. Defensively, the team did well and offered very little to Santos. And where we fell short today was, I agree with your analysis, that we lacked creating more effective scoring chances. And that happens for a few reasons. When it comes to crosses, sometimes the box is poorly occupied. I don’t even agree on some points, because we tried other ways today. We tried combinations through the middle, one-twos, shots from outside the box. And Santos had a clearer plan to sit back and defend. We ended up pushing Santos back, especially in the second half. We had more difficulty finishing the moves, seeing them through. We had a lot of crossing opportunities. We crossed the ball, which is kind of a normal pattern. I’ve already told you, it’s not because we had Pedro Raul in the box or didn’t have Pedro Raul in the box.

When we face teams that sit very deep defensively, the plays often end up going wide and the goals usually come from there. I think we were poor today in our crossing execution and in occupying the box. And we ended up not creating effective scoring chances. We also had a lot of set pieces, because we failed to convert any of them. There wasn’t any really dangerous situation. We had eight corners, Santos had only one. And Santos ended up being very clinical on the free kick they took. We could also have reacted quicker to the rebound, which would have prevented the goal. But it was a very well-taken free kick by Neymar, which ended up deciding the final result of the game.”

Diniz also explained Dieguinho’s use and revealed that Carrillo could have been used if he had been in better physical condition. According to the coach, the Peruvian felt pain in the back of his thigh and, given the number of absences in the squad, the coaching staff decided not to take risks. The coach also mentioned Jesse Lingard’s absence due to a viral illness.

“Regarding Dieguinho, you asked about him too? Dieguinho was one of the options to play. Carrillo was also an option, but only if he had been fully fit. But he had pain in the back of his thigh and we decided to preserve him because he had been coming off a heavy run of games and, during the week, he didn’t feel confident. And we already have several absences in that midfield-to-attack area, so we thought it was better to preserve him for this match. But there is no muscle injury, although there were important signs that we needed to respect. Dias had a viral illness. He also wasn’t in condition to play. And Dieguinho was an option. He’s a player who knows how to play in that role, he’s already played there, already trained there, both wide and drifting inside. That’s why he was chosen.”

Lack of attention and aggressiveness

Santos’ goal came after a Neymar free kick. In the aftermath of the save, Oliva pounced on the rebound to score the only goal of the match. Asked about Rodrigo Garro’s involvement in the play and other moments of inattention, Diniz preferred to share responsibility for the play across the whole team.

For the coach, however, Corinthians’ main problem was a lack of aggressiveness, especially in the first half.

“I don’t know if it can be summed up only that way as the reason we lost. Maybe there was a lack of attention, but on the first-goal play, it wasn’t just Garro. On that play, when the free kick is taken, he followed the team’s behavior, everyone stepping back. If there’s a rebound, whether off the post or from the goalkeeper’s save, we have to be alert. Practically no one came back from the wall to cover behind. Wherever the ball had dropped, in another area, if there had been another player there, the goal could also have happened. So it was also a collective mistake, because nobody attacked the rebound.

And regarding that play, there were other moments that I can’t define because of that. I think what was missing, for me, was more aggressiveness, especially in the first half. We needed more aggressive possession, to finish the moves faster, occupy the box better, shoot more, create more pressure, bring the fans with us, which was more or less what we had trained to happen in the match. In the second half, that improved, we were more effective, we pushed forward more, Santos practically didn’t come out from the back, and we lacked a little inspiration to create our chances and turn them into goals.”

Diniz explains Carrillo’s absence and laments third straight defeat

Carrillo again became a topic during the press conference. Diniz explained that the player had swelling that went down during the week, but he still did not feel confident enough to play. The coach stressed that the problem affected an area that is heavily used by players and mentioned other players who are in the recovery process.

“Regarding Carrillo, right? So, Carrillo, well, he had… But the swelling went down during the week, yet he still wasn’t fit, he didn’t feel confident to play. With the number of players we have, especially considering how many we already have in the medical department, mainly in the attacking sector, we thought it was better not to risk Carrillo. So it’s not because we had a full week that we had to take a risk with Carrillo. We already have Yuri trying to come back, André himself, and everything kind of… in the back-of-the-thigh area. If it had been a different muscle, we might even have taken the risk with Carrillo, but it’s a muscle that is heavily demanded by players.”

After that, the manager acknowledged the fans’ frustration. Even after a week with more time for recovery and training, Diniz felt the team should have delivered a more intense performance.

“Regarding the week, I completely understand the fans’ frustration. I think, especially because of the crowd we had here today, if I’m not mistaken it was the fourth-largest crowd in the Arena’s history, they deserved a better result and a better performance too. We had to have played better, with more intensity, with more aggressiveness, as I said earlier. I think that was missing. And I’ve said this other times too: just because you have a full week doesn’t mean a lot of different things will happen. We had consecutive games, with no time to train, and we were much more intense than we were in today’s game. I think the intensity, especially in the first half, had to be different. We had to be more intense, show more aggressiveness, and create more situations.”

The defeat to Santos was Corinthians’ third straight in the Brazilian Championship. Before the derby, Timão had been beaten by Cruzeiro and Coritiba. Diniz said the three negative results are very troubling, but noted that the circumstances of the matches were different.

“So, the three defeats bother us a lot, Vessoni. A lot. It’s something that wasn’t… If you explain it, the defeats are not the same. The Cruzeiro game was different from today’s game. The Curitiba game had the issue that we had played on Thursday, a match here that was mentally very draining. But we also have the obligation to know how to overcome that. It was difficult, but it was possible. We did that between the Inter game, after the elimination, and the Red Bull game. We managed to put in a good performance against Red Bull in similar circumstances to that game in Curitiba. And today I think that, out of these three games, today carries even more weight for us, because we had time to recover, time to train, and time to have played a game with more intensity from start to finish.”

Managing the squad between the Brasileirão and Libertadores

With an important stretch ahead and several physical issues in the squad, Diniz was also asked how he plans to manage the players between the Brazilian Championship and the Libertadores.

The coach acknowledged that it will be necessary to find balance, especially since Corinthians will face Chapecoense in the domestic competition before the first match against Estudiantes in the quarterfinals of the continental tournament.

“That’s something we’ll have to know how to manage. And in the end, we’ll be judged more by the result than by good or bad management. So we’ll have to know how to balance it. And the idea in these three games we had was to get far more points than we did, because we got no points from three games, two of them at home. Now, in the Brasileirão, we’ll have to find a way to pick up points regardless of who plays. So in the next game, we’ll see what we’re going to do, because we play on Sunday and then on Wednesday we have the first leg of the tie against Estudiantes. And we’ll have to find a way in the Brazilian Championship and, when the Libertadores game comes, also be at full strength and do our best to get through to the next round.”

Diniz demands the same attitude shown in the Libertadores

Since returning from the World Cup, Corinthians have played 11 matches, with four wins, three draws, and four defeats. When analyzing the period, Diniz said the numbers do not fully reflect the team’s current moment.

In the coach’s view, the technical performances shown in the recent defeats were not necessarily worse than what was seen against Rosario Central in the Libertadores. According to him, the main difference was the mental aspect.

“It’s hard to answer that question. I don’t think it reflects the team’s current moment. Against Cruzeiro, against Curitiba, and today, the team hasn’t played badly technically, but that has been insufficient to win the games. We need to get back the intent we had, the intent, desire, and hunger with which we played the games against Rosario. Against Rosario, technically, if you take the two games we played, we didn’t play better than any of these three games we lost.

But in terms of mentality, it was a totally different mental state. There, the issue of fight, desire, and presence on the field came through much more. And I think that’s what we need to bring into the Brasileirão. We can’t only bring that in Libertadores matches. We have to bring it in every game. That’s very important for us in the Brazilian Championship.”

Memphis completes 90 minutes and receives a positive assessment

The derby also marked Memphis Depay’s return to Corinthians’ starting lineup. After a long period without playing a full official match, the Dutchman stayed on the field for the full 90 minutes.

Diniz revealed that the initial plan was not for the forward to play the whole match, but Memphis made himself available to stay on the field.

“He had a game that, obviously, will improve with a run of matches. The idea today wasn’t even for him to play the full 90 minutes, but, because of the team’s need and after I spoke with him, he made himself available to play until the end of the game. He’s a player who has the ability to decide a match at any moment. I evaluate his current moment, not only today’s match, but his overall moment, considering how long he had been out without playing a full 90-minute official game. I think his return has been individually very positive. I think that, with a sequence of games and training sessions, he’ll perform better and better.”

Diniz avoids blaming the refereeing for the defeat

Asked about the refereeing performance of Wilton Pereira Sampaio, the coach preferred not to point to the referee’s decisions as responsible for the result. Diniz said he has been avoiding the subject and put Corinthians’ own performance at the center of the analysis.

“If I don’t tell the truth, I won’t… I’m avoiding talking about refereeing, you know? I’ve already spoken once or twice, once I was reported for it, but I don’t believe… Today, our defeat… we can’t talk about refereeing. I think our defeat has a lot to do with what we did and failed to do in the game.”

Coach defends Dieguinho and Gui Negão

Finally, Diniz was asked about Dieguinho and Gui Negão, two academy players used during the derby. The coach rejected the idea that their performances should be treated as a disappointment and stressed that inconsistency is part of young players’ development.

“No, I don’t consider it a disappointment. I think it’s part of the players’ development. I think Dieguinho is a player with a lot of technique, a player who also has privileged physical condition, a quick player, a player with agility. It’s a matter of maturing. If we act that way, we want to put the boys in, so we put the boys in. If they don’t play well, it becomes a disappointment, and then there’s no reason for us to use them. It’s already difficult to bring them in. We have to know how to take care of them, know how to demand from them, and know how to evaluate them. And they need time, they need space. Today there was space to put Diego in, he tried to do his best, Gui Negão the same way. I don’t consider it a disappointment. I think it’s part of the players’ development.”

Now, after hosting Santos in Itaquera, Corinthians once again have a full training week, but will remain focused on the Brazilian Championship. That is because next Sunday (6), at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), Timão will host Chapecoense, again at Neo Química Arena, for the 26th round of the national competition.

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