Emily Lima backs squad, expects Corinthians to grow after Paulista bow | OneFootball

After the 2-1 defeat to São Paulo in the opening match of the Paulista Women’s Championship, head coach Emily Lima gave a press conference and addressed other aspects of Corinthians’ performance. The Brabas manager spoke about set pieces, confidence in the squad’s goalkeepers, the individual performances of some players, and the need to keep working to correct mistakes throughout the season.

Emily played down comparisons with the loss to Palmeiras in the Brazilian Championship and stressed that the context of the match against São Paulo was different, since the team used an alternative lineup.

Photo: ©Rodrigo Gazzanel / Ag. Corinthians

“Today we’re talking about the first match of the Paulista, in which the team was entirely made up of alternate players. The player who had been playing the most was Montserrat. At that moment, the most important thing for us was Monday’s match. It’s a derby, we understand that, but we need to think about the bigger picture, not just the derby. If we win today and lose two or three important players for Monday, that would also be a problem. We’re never going to please everyone. We have to believe in a plan, in what we do, while respecting each player’s limits.”

The coach also assessed the defensive system on set-piece plays and said the work has been carried out with close attention to detail.

“If I’m not mistaken, it was the first goal we’ve conceded from a corner at the near post. We’ve been training that situation a lot and putting a lot of emphasis on that area. The ball went in right there and it ended up being a goal, but we’re not going to blame anyone. We need to keep working and improving even more on defensive and offensive set pieces. Today, in fact, we managed to create good situations from attacking set pieces with a team that has trained very little together. So I see many more positive aspects.”

Emily also commented on the conversation between the players after São Paulo’s second goal and viewed the attitude in a positive light.

“I think it was much more about lifting their spirits than anything else. I liked the attitude. Tactically, everything was very well defined, both defensively and offensively. When we trust the group and the work, these reactions are natural.”

Asked about the choice of goalkeeper Rillary as the starter and about the absences of Lelê and Nicole, Emily reinforced her confidence in the entire squad.

“There was no physical problem. It was our choice. We need to understand who the Corinthians players are and whether we’ll be able to count on them in an emergency at some point. If we don’t use them now, we won’t be able to evaluate them in a match.We have to trust all 32 players. That’s how we work.”

The coach also detailed the difficulties they had in marking forward Gadu, one of São Paulo’s standout players in physical battles up front.

“It was one of the points we addressed at halftime. She was controlling the ball with her back to goal, playing comfortably, without pressure. We lacked a bit more aggression, more fight, that Corinthians edge, battling for the first and second ball. In the second half we were able to adjust better, with more support and double marking. After the technical timeout, we organized the team and started to control possession more.”

Emily also spoke about the work being done with forward Johnson, who created chances but was unable to find the net.

“Johnson is fully back with the group and continuing her work. She is a very young girl, with great promise and a lot of potential. If she had converted the chances she had, the analysis of the match would probably be different. We will keep working so that she continues to develop more and more as an athlete.”

With their Paulista opener complete, Corinthians will face São Paulo again this Monday (11) at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time, in the next round of the Brazilian Women’s Football Championship Série A1.

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