Dorival: Memphis benched, Corinthians exceeding expectations | OneFootball

Corinthians defeated São Paulo on Thursday night at the Neo Química Arena in the Brasileirão, with goals from Yuri Alberto (twice) and Memphis Depay, who started on the bench. After the derby, Dorival Júnior explained why the Dutchman was not in the starting lineup for the Majestoso.

The coach revealed that the number 10 returned from the FIFA break with a discomfort and didn’t even train on Wednesday, the day before the match. Dorival said he spoke with the player and he did not feel confident to start among the starters.

“We had a similar situation during a previous FIFA break. He [Memphis Depay] suffered an injury due to fatigue. He came with instructions from the Dutch national team’s medical department about a discomfort he had been feeling. Yesterday we did the necessary tests, which gave him the assurance to be at ease with what he was reporting. We talked to the player, he didn’t feel confident, didn’t even train yesterday. We couldn’t make a different decision. We have the final stretch of the championship and a decisive match ahead, I hope to have everyone available,” justified the coach.

(Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians)

Dorival values the campaign

Dorival believes that Corinthians’ campaign in the Brasileirão, considering the difficulties the team faced throughout the season, is even “above expectations”. He admits the team still needs to find more consistency, but says he is “satisfied” with the work done so far.

“I’m satisfied with what I’ve seen. Not long ago, no one talked about Gui Negão, Dieguinho, André, and others. It’s a very fair job. This will give us confidence for next year. We’ll come out stronger. Corinthians has only had one year to form this group. We’ll certainly have the chance to grow even more when we find consistency. We had many losses due to injury, I couldn’t give the team a run of games. Things happened overnight,” analyzed the coach.

“We have a team that is seeking consistency. With the changes we had, the difficulties were greater. We’re just now starting to have everyone available. Even so, we ended up losing players from one day to the next. I think Corinthians is having a campaign a bit above what we imagined. Of course, we want the top spots, but Corinthians needs to evolve as a team, it’s a process,” he added.

Focus on the Copa do Brasil?

With the semifinal of the Copa do Brasil approaching, Dorival is not yet making the clash with Cruzeiro the team’s main focus in this final stretch of the season. He intends to approach the last four rounds of the Brasileirão with “seriousness” and avoids using the tournament as a “testing lab.”

“We do tests all the time. I see an evolution in Corinthians since last year. This is due to the work done thanks to Fabinho’s presence, the security he gives us, as well as the president. That makes a big difference. We had a season with many problems, it wasn’t simple, but I think we matured as a team,” he assessed.

“We’re working seriously, trying to get the best out of everyone. We want our team confident for the upcoming decision. It’s always a preparation, we have to intensify that. The team is evolving. The campaign is fair to me, with many difficulties, but a lot of dignity from all the players. Could we be in a better situation? Maybe. But the year wasn’t simple. The difficulties need to be taken into account,” he concluded.

Situation in the standings

With the win in the Majestoso derby, Corinthians jumped to 10th place in the tournament and reached 45 points, the same as São Paulo. The difference between both teams and the G7 is eight points.

Next Corinthians match

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