Dorival Jr on Corinthians’ progress, Alisson and Supercopa do Brasil

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Central do Timão

·24 gennaio 2026

Dorival Jr on Corinthians’ progress, Alisson and Supercopa do Brasil

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the evening of last Thursday (22), Corinthians faced Santos at Vila Belmiro in a classic match valid for the fourth round of the first phase of the 2026 Campeonato Paulista and ended up drawing 1-1. The Corinthians goal was scored by striker Yuri Alberto. The draw left Alvinegro in seventh place on the overall table with five points (one win, two draws, and one loss – five goals scored and conceded). Only the top eight advance to the knockout stage.

In a press conference moments after the final whistle, coach Dorival Júnior was asked if he will rest the main players for this Sunday's (25) match at 8:30 PM (Brasília time) against Velo Clube in Rio Claro, for the fifth round of the state championship. It is worth remembering that, in the middle of the week (28) and next Sunday (1), Alvinegro will face Bahia at Vila Belmiro in the Brasileirão opener and Flamengo in Brasília in the Supercopa do Brasil final.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

“We can't know today. Only tomorrow (Friday, today) when we start working on the players' recovery. And these decisions will have to be made. That's why we deeply regret the current situation, where direct interference (from refereeing) takes away the possibility of crucial points that would accelerate our quest for qualification. That's the first point.”

“Secondly, we have the opening of the Brazilian Championship and on top of that an important match for the club, important for Flamengo, so that we have the possibility of a victory. We need to have a slightly more complete squad. We have to seek alternatives, we have to look for more so that we can have the group ready as soon as possible,” he began.

Later, when talking about a 'more complete squad' in the previous statement, the Corinthians coach spoke about the work of football executive Marcelo Paz in the search for reinforcements. So far, Alvinegro has announced defender Gabriel Paulista, right-back Pedro Milans, and midfielder Matheus Pereira. On the other hand, midfielder Alisson from São Paulo and forward Kaio César from Al-Hilal are in the pipeline.

“Marcelo has been working hard for this, and I hope that as soon as possible we can have our group a little more formed, but with more options and real possibilities for changes that maintain the standard the team has been presenting,” he said.

Later, he was questioned about the situation of midfielder José Martínez, who is still in Venezuela waiting for the reissuance of his work passport to return to Brazil, and forward Memphis Depay, who is undergoing physical improvement and muscle rebalancing work and has not yet played in the 2026 season. The expectation is that the number 10 will return only in the match against Flamengo in the Supercopa do Brasil final next weekend, as reported by Central do Timão.

“He (José Martínez) hasn't signaled anything to me, I don't know if the board or Marcelo, you can ask Marcelo. Memphis, I think it's still too early. We have to give him more time so that we don't have him in a match and suddenly return to the medical department. That's why we are building a situation calmly so that he doesn't have a recurrence of an injury that could be a complication throughout the season,” he continued.

Soon after, he returned to talk about the rotation of the squad amid the tight schedule. The Parque São Jorge club returned to training on January 3 at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava and has already had four matches, including two classics against São Paulo and Santos, as well as the match against RB Bragantino – all mentioned Serie A teams.

“I think it's too early for us to make such a decision. We will still have matches in the midst of all this, we don't have a very abundant squad, we have to have balance in each match, we seek the best on the field, we have the players recovered because the energy spent is very high, the recovery is minimal, it's very small, now it's still a very difficult game, coming out of a difficult game, we will arrive at three in the morning, maybe, in São Paulo.”

“After all the internal apparatus, we are on the field two and a half days later, so it's sometimes impossible to have the best players in condition, we worked so that in the two classics we would have the team theoretically considered the main one. From now on, I don't know, we have to rethink, and from tomorrow we start to assemble this puzzle to have a reliable team that can achieve a great result in the next game.”

The Corinthians coach also analyzed midfielder Alisson, who belongs to São Paulo and has a loan deal in progress with Corinthians. Dorival Júnior worked with the player early in his career at Vasco da Gama and reunited in 2023 at the Morumbi team. With the coach, he started playing as a midfielder – the second man in midfield – and was crucial in winning the Copa do Brasil that year against Flamengo. In that edition, the São Paulo team also eliminated Palmeiras and Corinthians in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

“Alisson is a player who hasn't been naturally utilized in his team. With me, he did very well throughout the period I was there, and before that too, when I met him at Vasco da Gama, still a player from Cruzeiro's youth categories, loaned to Vasco. He has always been a very interesting player for me. I slightly changed the position he played based on the characteristics he presents.“

“If he manages to find his best conditions here, I have no doubt that he will be an important reinforcement in a role that we need to fill. Especially because we have few elements there, given the rotation that players who play in midfield require and need alternations, changes throughout the season, and the reason for the wear and tear that is caused. And having a reduced number, it's natural that you end up without the possibility of a more secure change,” he stated.

Dorival also made a point of highlighting the team's maturation since his arrival. Even with a less impressive campaign in terms of numbers in the 2025 Brasileirão, the coach understands that, many times, the team had a satisfactory performance and, at various moments, couldn't get the results it deserved in the matches. On the other hand, in winning the Copa do Brasil, the team managed both performance and results, something mentioned by the coach, in addition to the team's attitude in the semifinal and final matches against Vasco and Cruzeiro.

“The team is in the process of evolution, sometimes a detail or another has taken away the real possibility of confirming all this. It's interesting, but it's what was happening in the Brazilian Championship, playing in any way, with any lineup, the team behaved well and suddenly due to a detail, an error, a problem, it ended up not having a result. And that was weighing, that was naturally generating a lot of distrust. I noticed, on the other hand, that the team was maturing, was managing to find itself in many moments and could give us a response in the most difficult and complicated situations that we would have, which would be semifinals and finals, semifinals and finals, or the Copa do Brasil final. I think that happened, we played in a very safe, mature way, in the match in Belo Horizonte, and shortly after in the match in São Paulo as well.”

“It wasn't the result we wanted, the decision went to penalties and then against Vasco, due to a process we had in Sunday's game, with a lot of wear and tear, we ended up compromising the home result, but with the strength to seek and achieve the victory we had at Maracanã. I think it's a path the team is following, that's why I'm emphasizing that we need more elements so that we can have a stronger, more composed team, capable of making changes that allow us to maintain the same level that the team presents from the initial whistle,” he added.

He was also asked about the latest speculations regarding the possible arrival of winger Júnior Santos, 31, who belongs to Atlético-MG and had a below-par 2025 season after standing out for Botafogo in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where in the latter, he was champion and top scorer of the Conmebol Libertadores.

“Look, many names have been raised, mentioned. I even exceeded myself by saying something about Alisson, without having closed a situation yet. So, I prefer to wait a little. Wait a bit in case any new movement happens in the market, so we can speak more securely.”

Finally, he was asked about his opinion on the team's debut in the Brazilian Championship against Bahia, being at Vila Belmiro, on the 28th (Wednesday) at 8:30 PM (Brasília time). Initially, the match was scheduled for the 29th at the same time, but at Neo Química Arena. However, the team would have one less day of rest than Flamengo, who will also debut in the national competition on the 28th against São Paulo at Morumbi. According to the legislation, it is not allowed to have two games of the four major state teams in São Paulo (capital) on the same day, which made Alvinegro change the game location.

“It's very simple. We will have to play with Flamengo on Sunday, with one less day of rest, having a crucial, very important game in the middle of the week. We didn't have another path. We would play on Thursday, Flamengo would play on Wednesday. This had to be thought of by the CBF, and not our decision. Why? Because these are two teams playing a very important competition. Where these small distortions naturally favor one side or the other. I didn't want to have this advantage over our opponent. And I'm sure they feel the same way.”

“Because one more day at the start of the season, without having a natural and normal planning of a so-called pre-season, would certainly compromise the development of our team. We didn't have another path. Either we would take it to Santos, or we would take it to Bragança suddenly, or to Campinas, something like that. We opted to be a little closer,” he concluded.

After the draw with Santos in Baixada Santista, Corinthians remains focused on the Campeonato Paulista. That's because, next Sunday (25), at 8:30 PM (Brasília time), the Alvinegro team visits Velo Clube at Estádio Benito A. Castellano for the fifth round of the first phase of the state championship.

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