Dorival Júnior warns of fatigue, praises Bidon, eyes Paulistão run

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Central do Timão

·12 Januari 2026

Dorival Júnior warns of fatigue, praises Bidon, eyes Paulistão run

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Editorial Team

After the 3-0 victory over Ponte Preta at the Neo Química Arena, in the first round of the 2026 Paulista Championship, coach Dorival Júnior gave a press conference and commented on the physical condition of some important players in the squad. The coach detailed the recovery stage of Raniele, Memphis Depay, and Yuri Alberto, emphasizing the caution adopted by the coaching staff in the players' return.

“They are starting the process that we call the interval between being available and leaving the medical department. Two of them are already there, one is not yet, still in the recovery process, doing muscle strengthening work. I don't know if we'll have him on the field this week, I hope so. But Yuri and Raniele are a little further ahead. I can't say today when exactly they will be back.”, the coach began.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

“We are going to be as careful as possible so that, especially with the work done with Raniele, we don't lose him in a week, ten days, or 15, as had been happening. This is harmful to the team, especially to the player. And we are never with this player fully recovered, mainly because I don't want him to stay in this transition. On the contrary, from the moment he leaves, I want to have him definitively for the sequence of games.”, he continued.

Dorival also explained the decision to integrate youth players, who are playing in the Copinha, into the professional squad's training. João Vitor Jacaré, Luiz Gustavo Bahia, and Gui Amorim started working with the main group amid the absences recorded at the start of the season.

“We released them for the Copinha, because they had been working with our group. We released them imagining we would have a complete group, with all players fit. We did not imagine that, right at the start of training, we would have players out of action. This was a big loss for us. From that moment, we had to bring these athletes back. We were even lacking players to set up training sessions. So, we had no other option but to bring them in midweek so we could have them back in training.”, explained the coach.

When analyzing the Paulista Championship, the coach highlighted the short and dangerous nature of the competition, as well as the need to rotate the squad given the tight schedule and the sequence of decisive matches, including derbies.

“I think that word (tight) is correct. It's a very tricky championship, with only eight games and the possibility of relegation for all teams. It's not easy, it's not simple. We have to be as attentive as possible and handle it in the best way. There will be three matches against teams that are currently in Serie A of the Brazilian Championship. Ponte Preta was the champion of last year's Serie C, a qualified team that couldn't register the players they signed, but kept the structure of last year's team. And even so, we played a match in which we deserved the result.”, he stated.

“We have no other way. We played on Thursday and, two and a half days later, we have a match against São Paulo. So, there is no other way. There is no way for players who are coming back after such a short recovery time, from a theoretical vacation, to be playing in sequence. Inevitably, there will be injury situations in the second, third, or fourth round. Starting tomorrow, we will begin to have a more accurate assessment of the athletes and a perception of what we might have for Thursday's game.”, he went on.

“I hope we don't stop at this point, thinking things will happen naturally. We will have three derbies in a row, and that will already be a differential, especially because, from the fifth match, we could be in a very complicated situation. I think we need to be as attentive as possible, with all the necessary caution and concern, because it's a very fast championship, in which sometimes the possibility of recovery doesn't exist.”, Dorival concluded.

The Corinthians coach also praised Breno Bidon, who was one of the highlights of the match and has been the subject of speculation in the market. Dorival highlighted the midfielder's characteristics and the moment the player is experiencing.

“If they're keeping an eye on him, it's well deserved. For what he produced last year, he's doing it again, and I hope he continues like this. A player shows maturity from the moment he finds consistency in his career. He's a player who has freedom of movement. I told you, I never saw Bidon as a second defensive midfielder, as a holding midfielder, as everyone pointed out. For me, he has always been an attacking midfielder. And with freedom, he gets forward, he knows how to score goals, he exchanges passes in front of the box, he has passes that set up a teammate.”, the coach pointed out.

“He has many positive qualities, both defensively and offensively. This is important for a player of this level. I think he's going through a very good moment, and still has the potential for a lot of growth. I think he's still in the process of development, finding his best condition. A very important player—I’ll be honest with you, I wouldn't like to lose any player, especially now that I'm just starting to get some of them back, so we need to have this balance so we can have a good squad throughout the year. That's our big challenge.”, he continued.

Regarding Pedro Raul's return to the squad, Dorival adopted a tone of expectation and confidence, stating that the player himself will be responsible for showing his value throughout the season.

“He will be the one to say, he will be the one to give me the answer. I believe he can have a great year, that he prepares himself as much as possible. Pedro has had a career in which, for me, he still hasn't reached the limit of his potential. He can still evolve, he can grow, I pointed this out to him. I hope he sees this year as a breakthrough year in his life, in his career. Not that he hasn't already done a good job at other clubs, at other times, that's not what I'm saying. I just think he can go much further than what has happened so far. I hope he dedicates himself, gives his all in training so that the results can come.”, he commented.

Finally, the coach commented on Ángel Romero's departure and made a point of valuing the Paraguayan striker's trajectory at Corinthians, highlighting his importance on and off the field.

“I think we have to have a lot of respect for Romero's history, he was an important player for us last year. Maybe he wasn't used as much as he wanted and maybe deserved, I recognize that. However, we had many difficulties throughout our process, especially in the Brazilian Championship.”, said Dorival Júnior.

“I understand that in many games we had a very difficult, very complicated situation. I would have liked to give Romero more opportunities, but I couldn't. He is a player who leaves a very beautiful story here at the club. He must be praised, recognized, and above all, deserves our thanks for everything he left behind, not only on the field with technical results, but above all off it as well. He did a very important job within the group, so much so that he was one of the team captains, always was. And I think he had a spell here that will hardly be forgotten for everything he achieved during this period.”, he concluded.

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