Dorival Júnior on cancelled São Paulo trip, Arboleda ban, plea to fans | OneFootball

Dorival Júnior is officially back at São Paulo. The club’s new head coach was introduced at CT da Barra Funda on Monday afternoon (18) and spoke with the press for more than an hour about a wide range of topics.

Among them, he revealed that he really had not planned to work again this year and even had to cancel an international trip he had already scheduled when he received the invitation to return to Tricolor.

“I really wouldn’t have come back so soon. And when I got the call from the president, I understood, right after the match against Juventude, what had been happening. I had a trip booked to Florida, but I ended up rethinking the whole situation. I have a commitment to São Paulo, I accept it, and I will try to give my very best here,” said coach Dorival.

“You can be sure of that. I will do everything possible so that we can recapture the moment this same group experienced not long ago. It’s a job that I hope will continue what had already been put in place here so that we can regain the same level of performance we had been showing,” said the manager.

Right at the start of the presentation, director Rui Costa, who was also present at the press conference, announced that Arboleda will not be reinstated to the Tricolor squad after the act of indiscipline of leaving the club for a month. And Dorival commented on the Ecuadorian’s case.

“Arboleda was very important during my time here, he was key in that title win. In fact, he has been since 2017. Now, a problem has happened and it has to be resolved. Discipline matters anywhere and it has to prevail. That’s how I see the São Paulo board’s stance,” he assessed.

APPEAL TO THE TRICOLORS

São Paulo’s new coach also made an appeal to the fans, who have been somewhat at odds with the club since Crespo was replaced by Roger Machado, who was booed and criticized throughout his brief spell with Tricolor.

“I hope we have our fans back, truly believing in this team’s recovery. In the league itself, the team maintained a consistently competitive approach, the result of the work done by Crespo and Roger. We will carry on by making the most of that work. We will continue to maintain at least this position.”

“I’m sure every true São Paulo supporter will set aside any political thinking, anything individual, for the collective good. Above all, he is a São Paulo supporter, whether in office or in opposition. I’m sure that person will think carefully, especially because he has the club in his heart. If he does, then this gesture is needed.”

“It will be very important for all São Paulo supporters to come closer to the institution. Not just the fans returning to Morumbi, but for that atmosphere to keep happening. It’s a separate matter. It’s a contest. I hope it is as healthy as possible. But above all, I hope people understand that the club needs peace in order to find important paths forward.”

“The message is that the fans have never abandoned São Paulo, Morumbi… and I’m sure that support will come. The presence of the fans is essential. The greatest example was precisely in my last spell. In 2017, the strength of the stands helped us achieve a turnaround in the Brasileirão and gave us tremendous support to find a way forward that was not easy, it was very difficult.”

“People have no idea what goes on inside a working group. Back in 2023, we asked the fans to be a little patient because I saw a lot of quality in this group, which improved even more with Lucas’s arrival, which helped the team grow.”

“I hope once again that we will have that involvement and that the fans will believe again and make themselves heard. It will not be a simple job. I also had problems over there. We did everything we could to find a way in the last few matches and we couldn’t. Above all, we have to be realistic.”

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