Corinthians play it safe, Memphis a doubt for Velo Clube clash | OneFootball

With the Brazilian Championship debut approaching, Corinthians remains cautious in the recovery of forward Memphis Depay. Coach Dorival Júnior is not expected to field the Dutchman for the match against Velo Clube this Sunday, and is working to have the player in full physical condition for the start of the Brasileirão and the Supercopa do Brasil.

“It’s too soon for Memphis. We need to give him more time so we don’t risk losing him to the medical department again. A new injury could complicate things for the rest of the season,” said Dorival Júnior after the draw in the derby against Santos.

The caution isn’t limited to the Dutchman. The Argentine Rodrigo Garro, who returned in the derby against Santos after a month out, also underwent treatment focused on a full recovery.

Dorival’s idea is to have the squad as close to ideal as possible available for the Supercopa do Brasil, which will be played next Sunday (1st), against Flamengo, at the Mané Garrincha Stadium.

Dorival’s Ideal Team

Still in the process of defining the team and assessing in which matches he should rotate the squad, Dorival Júnior highlighted the difficulties in the players’ recovery process. Corinthians is coming off two consecutive derbies and is now preparing for the first fixtures of the national calendar.

“It’s too soon for us to make that decision, we’ll have matches in between. We don’t have a deep squad. We’re trying to recover the players, the fatigue is very high. We’re coming off a tough game, we’ll arrive in São Paulo at 3 a.m., and two and a half days later we’re back on the field,” said the coach.

“It’s impossible to have everyone in top condition. We worked to have a team as close to ideal as possible for the two derbies. Now, I don’t know, we’ll think about how we’ll approach the next game,” he added.

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