Zubeldía backs Fluminense's path, outlines plans for Hulk, Thiago Silva

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·12 juillet 2026

Zubeldía backs Fluminense's path, outlines plans for Hulk, Thiago Silva

Coach Luis Zubeldía gave a positive assessment of Fluminense’s 2-0 win over Bahia this Sunday at the Maracanã in a mid-season friendly. According to the manager, the match’s main objective was to carry out the physical plan prepared for the squad, with special attention to Hulk’s adaptation and Thiago Silva’s return.

The Argentine explained that the coaching staff prioritized distributing playing time among the players during the friendlies.

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— The most important thing at this stage is to follow the planned minutes for each player. There are always some names with fewer minutes than others, but given the number of players we have, we largely did what we had planned. We lost five or six days of preparation, and we had to reorganize around that so we could carry out the friendly tests.

Zubeldía then stressed that preparing the two new signings was one of the priorities before official competitions resume.

— The priority was the workload in terms of minutes, but also Hulk’s adaptation and Thiago Silva’s minutes. The rest had already been playing. We’re on the right track. We still have two more weeks before facing the two Brasileirão matches, against Bragantino and Grêmio, to keep building up preparation minutes in every area.

The coach also commented on the team’s attacking options after Hulk’s first goal in the tricolor shirt. Asked about a possible partnership between the No. 7 and John Kennedy, Zubeldía said he is still evaluating the best combinations for that area.

— Anything is possible. It’s an option. All the options seem complementary. The signings were made for that reason, because they can complement each other. Time will tell who can complement each other best, without losing the good things we had already been doing. We need to be a consistent team in both defense and attack.

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