Dorival Júnior says he axed São Paulo trip, on Arboleda veto, 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 on a variety 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 scheduled when he received the invitation to return to Tricolor.

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

“You can be sure of that. I’ll do everything possible so that we can regain the form this same group showed not long ago. It’s a job that I hope will be a continuation of what had been implemented here so that we can once again reach 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 into 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 spell here, he was key in that title win. In fact, since 2017. Now, a problem happened and it has to be resolved. Discipline matters everywhere and it has to prevail. That’s how I see São Paulo’s board’s behavior,” he said.

APPEAL TO THE TRICOLOR FANS

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 at Tricolor.

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

“I’m sure every true São Paulo supporter will set aside any political thinking, anything individual, for the collective good. Above all, he’s a São Paulo fan, regardless of whether he supports the current leadership or the opposition. I’m sure that guy 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 every São Paulo supporter to come closer to the institution. Not just for the fans to return to Morumbi, but for that atmosphere to continue as well. This is a case apart. It’s a dispute. I hope it will be as healthy as possible. But above all, I hope they understand that the club needs peace in order to find important paths forward for our club.”

“The message is that the fans have never abandoned São Paulo, Morumbi... and I’m sure that support will come. The fans’ presence is fundamental. The greatest example was precisely during my last spell. In 2017, the strength of the stands helped us recover in the Brasileirão and gave us tremendous support to find a path that wasn’t 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 squad, which improved even more with Lucas’s arrival, which helped the team grow.”

“I hope once again that we’ll have that participation and that the fans will believe again and make their voices heard. It won’t be a simple job. I also had problems over there. We did everything 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.