Dorival: Garro’s form and Corinthians’ defence dip are natural

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Central do Timão

·1 December 2025

Dorival: Garro’s form and Corinthians’ defence dip are natural

By Vinícios Cotrim | Central do Timão Editorial Team

Corinthians ended in a draw against Botafogo, in yet another inconsistent performance by the defense, which allowed two goals from the opponent in the second half. In addition, Garro also performed below expectations, as he himself commented in the previous match, and now by Dorival Júnior.

“It’s very difficult for me to make a comparison, since I wasn’t here, but I followed from the outside. That really happened. We can’t forget that he had practically two injuries very close together and very delicate, which are not easy for an athlete to recover from, it’s not simple for him to find his best condition again. So, we live in this situation. Keeping him on the field at all times, demanding as much time as possible from the athlete, perhaps overexerting him, since he’s not fully at his best,” said the coach in a press conference.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

“It’s a dilemma we have to live with, believing that at any moment a player of this level will return to his best form. He still feels some things. At least that’s what he reports. And we are trying to deal with this kind of situation, giving him the best possible condition so that he’s recovered for the next match and always trying to demand a little more from him in training, as far as we can go.,” he added.

Timão has conceded six goals in the last three matches, a high average compared to Dorival Júnior’s overall work. For the coach, however, there is no inconsistency in the defensive system, despite the below-par performances in recent challenges.

“I don’t see it that way. We had a very bad game, the previous one, against Cruzeiro, and I admit that. Other than that, I see a natural fluctuation. I pointed out to you that Corinthians had many difficulties throughout the season, due to the many changes we were forced to make, just as I believe all Brazilian clubs went through. We, in particular, had a very large number of absences throughout the championship. And our formations fit together even with the changes we had. Having a team that is not scored against in almost 50% of the games, I think that’s an achievement,” he explained.

“It really happened in these last two, three matches. Today we conceded goals. We didn’t perform as consistently as we had been. The first half was more or less a reflection of what most of these games were like. We didn’t take risks, we didn’t have difficulties. We created great opportunities and had volume of play. Now, we can’t forget that we’re facing a very qualified team, a team with a very high level of investment. And that old saying: if you don’t kill the game, you end up having difficulties, because you will inevitably be attacked by a team with very good players, like Botafogo,” he concluded.

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Projections against Fortaleza and Juventude

“Well, first of all, we’re going to do everything to reach the best condition with all the players. So we’ll have to vary the team, change things up somehow so that everyone is really well at the most important moment. I think, mathematically, mathematically, I still see a small percentage (of the relegation fight) due to the balance of this championship, with the teams fighting at the bottom of the table. It’s very difficult for everyone, so we have to be alert to all of this. But we understand that we’ll have a decisive match in a few days, and because of that, we have to focus on recovery. And may we have the team in the best possible condition for the last two matches. Not forgetting that we still have two very important commitments in the Brazilian Championship”

How the results affect the Copa do Brasil

“Honestly, in no way. If we also had three, four wins in a row, maybe I’d be much more worried than in this situation. What I hope is that we can repeat, in these games, the attitude we had here and that we have all the players fit to play. I think that’s an important point. Our squad is lean. Our squad is short. And we count on all the players we have, so that each one, in their own time, can give their answer on the field. We are working for that to happen. We are always looking for the best possible lineups.“

Campaign in the Brasileirão in relation to the payroll

“I don’t know those numbers. For me, there’s no connection at all. I don’t believe it’s one of the highest payrolls in the country, maybe. I don’t believe that. Second point, we’ve gone almost two transfer windows without changes to our squad. I think you’ve followed all of this. We’re working with a lot of youngsters here, who are practically starting their careers and their journey in our team, these players are starting to give a good response. Naturally, we still need a sequence so they can reach their best condition.

We had many difficulties throughout the championship, I won’t hide it from you, I’m not lying. The fans themselves are aware of this, they know exactly what I’m talking about. We had an absurd sequence with the lack of 8, 9, 10 players delivered to the medical department, important players, starters. These difficulties were compounded by everything that happened throughout the year, which you also followed as we did. And we tried to do our job in the cleanest way possible. I’m very honest with you: the difficulties we went through here this year I hadn’t experienced at any other club. And even so, at no time during the championship did we get close to the relegation zone.

I think it’s very different from what happened in the last three, maybe, the last three previous championships. This year, on the contrary, we didn’t struggle at all. And it’s a team that we have to understand has its needs, naturally needs. I have to stress this: I never hid it from the first day I arrived here. And, if it didn’t happen, it’s natural that we had a little more difficulty. Especially since the level of investment of all the teams in Série A of the Brazilian Championship was very high. And Corinthians couldn’t participate in that at all.

Because of that, I say here openly that our work was very satisfactory. A job that, who knows, one day may be understood so that it’s not left adrift. This work with the youngsters that is being done will surely bring an important return to Corinthians in the future. It’s all a matter of time. And now let’s think about this final moment. These are players who reached this level, not by chance. We had a consistent championship, like most teams that, on the contrary, invested much more than Corinthians did this past year, practically, which is a complete cycle, without us having the possibility of some specific and occasional corrections that would have given us a little more strength throughout the season.

And because of that, I’m very satisfied with what we’ve done. A team that, even in the Paulista Championship, still being champions, ended up having some small fluctuations that showed what could happen in the Brazilian Championship. So, what I see is this: we’re on the right track. We’re working hard. And maybe we can still finish the year a little differently from what, perhaps, at this moment, is imagined for our team. But I have no doubt that, if we keep this base we have, next year will be very different, as long as we can make some specific corrections we need”

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