Dorival’s assistant laments defeat and avoids individual assessment of Memphis: ‘That would be cowardly’

Lucas Silvestre acknowledges Corinthians’ performance is below par.

Corinthians ‘ coach on Wednesday night (11), in the 2-0 defeat to Coritiba , at Neo Química Arena, assistant coach Lucas Silvestre admitted the Paulista team’s performance was below par 

The coach praised Corinthians’ opening minutes, but admitted that their performance dropped and criticized the lack of effectiveness of the attacking players.

— Initially, we started the match well, and for 10 or 15 minutes we had chances, but we didn’t finish. The ball was moving around; we lacked a cross, a shot on goal. After those 15 minutes, we lost our way, conceded a goal from a set piece, the opponent closed ranks, and we had difficulty getting through — said Lucas Silvestre.

In the second half, Silvestre changed the team’s formation, putting two points into the game, but even with more aggression, Corinthians couldn’t produce anything and saw Coritiba extend their lead.

“In the second half, we tried to open up play with two wingers to create an imbalance, but the truth is that today was a day when nothing went right. The important thing now is that we look at ourselves, understand what happened, analyze the match, and see what we need to improve. It was a week that suggested things would be different. A home game against an opponent whose qualities we knew, who would play defensively and have set pieces, and we couldn’t neutralize them,” he continued.

When questioned about the individual performance of Memphis Depay and Rodrigo Garro, Lucas Silvestre dodged the question and avoided naming potential culprits for the defeat.

“Today it would be cowardly to talk about any athlete. The starting eleven and the six players didn’t play well, the coaching staff didn’t play well. We need to look inward, stay quiet and analyze. Analyzing the game between Garro and Memphis is impossible, because the whole team didn’t play well,” he explained.

With the defeat, Corinthians is now in eighth position (down five places), with seven points, two wins, one draw, and two losses. The team has scored five goals and conceded five.

Now, Timão faces  Santos , next Sunday (15), at Vila Belmiro;  Chapecoense , on the 19th, at Arena Condá; and  Flamengo , on the 22nd, again at Neo Química Arena, all matches for the Brazilian Championship.