Diniz praises Raniele, backs Garro and hails Corinthians progress | OneFootball

Corinthians drew 0-0 with Athletico-PR on the night of last Thursday (30) at Neo Química Arena, in the 21st round of the Brazilian Championship. With the result, the black-and-white team reached 29 points, with seven wins, eight draws, and six losses, as well as 22 goals scored and 20 conceded.

After the match, head coach Fernando Diniz gave a press conference and addressed different topics related to the squad. The coach praised Raniele’s performance, defended Rodrigo Garro, analyzed the team’s display after the break for the World Cup, and commented on the use of youth academy players. The manager also spoke about the schedule, his connection with Corinthians, and the support offered to players who leave the field injured.

Photos: Rodrigo Coca/Corinthians Agency

Fernando Diniz highlights Raniele’s performance

Used out of position in defense against Athletico-PR, Raniele received praise from the coach. Diniz highlighted the player’s versatility and recalled another performance in a role different from his usual one.

“Like Raniele, who had one of his best matches, maybe with the mindset of Corinthians. Just like when he played out of position at right-back against Vasco. He is a player who isn’t talked about much, but he’s a tremendous player. A player who came late into football, and he had a tremendous match today. He marked one of the Brazilian Championship’s biggest standouts so far, and marked him very well. Both he and André Ramalho also had a very good game today. He made himself available in the game, played long balls, found passes between the lines. Raniele is a player who sometimes goes unnoticed, but in my opinion, he is a great player.”

Coach defends Rodrigo Garro

Asked about a possible drop in Rodrigo Garro’s performance since the schedule resumed, Diniz said the period being analyzed is still too short. The coach showed confidence that the midfielder will recover his form during the rest of the season.

“But I think the sample size is very small, right? We’ve only been back from the competition, from the World Cup, for a week. Garro has everything to have a great second half of the season. He practically played two games, right? No, he didn’t even play against Remo. He was suspended. So you’re making an assessment based on one game. That’s very little, right? The Bahia game was very difficult for everyone. And I think Garro will be fine, and I think he will have a great second half of the season.”

Defensive system is praised

In Fernando Diniz’s view, the defensive display was Corinthians’ main positive point in the first matches after the break. The coach, however, acknowledged that the team still needs to show greater consistency in attack.

“I think the most important thing, even numerically, but not only in the numbers themselves, is the defensive system. Not just because of the number of goals we’ve conceded, which is low. In the three official matches, we’ve conceded one goal. And against Remo, in the first half, we had very strong attacking production. I think that if we can have more consistency in our attacking production, that would be the one thing to improve, if I had to mention just one element. But defensively, the team has been doing very well.”

Youth academy remains on the radar

With Corinthians unable to register new signings and dealing with physical issues in the squad, Diniz was also asked about the possibility of speeding up the integration of Under-20 players. The coach said he follows the youth ranks and watches the players during activities with the professional group.

“I don’t know to what extent we’ll have to speed things up. The fact is that I’m always looking at the youth academy. I’ve been following the matches and whenever I can, I bring the Under-20s in — this week I brought them in for a training match. There are a number of players who have been moving up to train with us, and I’m watching them. At any moment it may happen that we see a player is more ready, or shows something different in training. And if I have to give him a chance, I’ll do it with great pleasure.”

Schedule affects Corinthians’ planning

Fernando Diniz explained that the short gap between games affects physical recovery and the choice of lineups. The coach mentioned the match against Bahia and justified the decision to rotate the squad against Athletico-PR, also keeping the game against Internacional in mind.

“It always has an impact. Obviously, it doesn’t determine everything, but physically it has a huge influence. We felt it there against Bahia, we clearly felt it. And on Monday we confirmed it, because we looked into it. I found out that it was part of Bahia’s strategy to take advantage of the fact that they had two extra days of rest so they could impose a more intense pace on the game. So these schedules, the calendar isn’t very even when this kind of thing happens.

If we were going to play on Monday like Inter, we probably would have used the same team today. But for us to leave here today, on Thursday, the players are going to sleep at, I don’t know, two or three in the morning, sleep little. Then recover tomorrow. The next day they train and travel to get there. I don’t think we would arrive there in top physical condition. Even so, I’m not backing away from what I’ve always said.

We also felt the effects of that game. It was hot, and the pitch was heavy. So whenever we think it’s necessary, we’ll try to rotate the team when it benefits us. In this case, with the thinking we had there, I don’t regret anything we did. What happened were unfortunate events, the injuries. But in terms of what we planned, I think we followed the best path.”

Connection with Corinthians

The coach also commented on the relationship he has built with the club since his arrival. Diniz said he feels adapted to the environment and showed satisfaction in working in São Paulo’s East Zone.

“I think that connection has been happening since the day I arrived here. It’s always a joy for me to be here, to work, and to bring joy to the fans. The identification comes very easily. I feel very comfortable here, I love it, I love it here. I’m here in the East Zone, in my area, and I love managing this club. For me, it’s an immense satisfaction to be able to represent Corinthians.”

Support for injured players

Finally, Fernando Diniz spoke about his relationship with Yuri Alberto and Zakaria Labyad after the physical issues they suffered during the match. The coach compared what an injured athlete goes through to a period of mourning and emphasized the importance of support.

“Well, I didn’t even get to see Zakaria and Yuri, I spoke to them briefly. I think that in this first moment, and this isn’t because of my academic background, it’s because of the sensitivity we need to have. For a player, it’s a small mourning process when this kind of thing happens. We hope nothing serious is confirmed with Zakaria, but for a player who prepares and lives for this, whose whole life is football, when there’s a serious injury, it’s like mourning. And like all mourning, there’s a phase where at first you deny it, then you have to accept it. In our case, what we can do is provide comfort and, in this first moment, support them, and then keep going together, strengthen them, because it’s part of life and part of the game.”

Corinthians now turns its attention to the Copa do Brasil. Next Sunday (2), at 7:30 p.m. Brasília time, Timão visits Internacional at Beira-Rio Stadium for the first leg of the round of 16. The second leg will be played on Wednesday (6), at 8 p.m., at Neo Química Arena.

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