Dorival won't shift blame for defeat, tells squad: “It's all on us” | OneFootball

Head coach Dorival Júnior took responsibility for São Paulo’s current situation after the 2-1 comeback defeat to Athletico-PR on Wednesday (22) in Bragança Paulista (SP), in the Brazilian Championship.

Despite the turmoil off the pitch due to political developments and FIFA’s transfer ban, the coach stressed that the institutional crisis cannot be used as an excuse for the poor performance on the field.

“It’s not healthy, but we cannot point to a situation like this as the main reason at this moment. We don’t have that right,” the manager said in his post-match press conference.

Match analysis and calls for a response

Dorival highlighted that the team delivered a solid performance in the first half — the result of the midseason training period — but lamented the decisive drop-off in the second half.

“We had a long period to work. What we saw in the first half was very much what had been developed, but the game came down to five minutes of a blackout. Healthy for the club? Never, it never was and never will be (…) The same patterns keep repeating themselves, only the address changes, but we have to face it and be aware that people are working to solve it,” he said.

With the setback, Tricolor reached six matches without a win in the Brasileirão. The team has not won since April 25, when it beat Mirassol, and dropped to ninth place in the competition with 25 points, moving further away from the Copa Libertadores qualification zone.

“The responsibility for this moment is entirely ours. We have to find within ourselves a way to recover (…) It’s regrettable, but it’s something we have to understand: the responsibility is entirely ours,” he concluded.

São Paulo will try to bounce back in the Brasileirão next Sunday (26), when it faces Flamengo at the Maracanã at 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time).

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