Corinthians plays under pressure against Santos in a meeting with Carille

The derby between Corinthians and Santos this Sunday (21) will promote the reunion of Fábio Carille with the capital’s alvinegro, the club that designed him as a coach in the Brazilian football scene and which, due to the success with the former coach, decided to bet on another newcomer recently: Sylvinho.

Carille returned to Brazil in the first week of September, when Santos announced him to replace Fernando Diniz. His mission was to avoid relegation in the Brazilian Championship.

With 42 points to five rounds from the end of the Nacional, the team from Santos is close to reaching its goal and is still beginning to see a chance of winning a spot in the Libertadores, an objective that would reward the team’s recovery. Since the 17th round, Santos have figured in the bottom half of the table.

This season, it is possible that even ninth place will qualify for the continental competition.​

The duel at Neo Química Arena, at 4 pm, will be Carille’s 16th, ahead of Santos. He is looking for his sixth victory, the first in the classics — for the time being, he has accumulated a draw with São Paulo, 1-1, and a defeat against Palmeiras, by 2-0. The clash in Itaquera will be broadcast on TV Globo .

Before taking over the Baixada club, the coach spent 19 months abroad, working in football in Saudi Arabia. In Brazil, he had a successful trajectory at Corinthians, where he won the 2017 Brazilian Nationals and the three-time São Paulo championship, between 2017 and 2019, but was fired in his last spell at the club, in November 2019, heavily criticized after a 4-1 defeat to Flamengo, in Maracanã.

The success with the titles he conquered was one of the reasons that made the Parque São Jorge club bet on Sylvinho. The club believed that betting on the same recipe would pay off, putting in charge of the team someone who had already been an assistant to the team and who knew the house.

Sylvinho accumulated part of his experience working on Tite’s coaching staff in 2013. In 2016, he would return to work with the current Brazilian national team coach again as an assistant, working with the national team at the 2018 World Cup.

This baggage, however, has not been enough to free him from criticism. Despite Corinthians fighting for a place in the top four, with great chances of winning a place in the group stage of the next Libertadores, Sylvinho’s work is widely criticized by fans.

Many Corinthians fans question the football presented by the team, especially in games against opponents who are at the top of the table, as it was in the last round, when they lost to Flamengo, 1-0.

In addition, the coach hired in May is showing worse performance than his predecessor, Vagner Mancini, who also had a questionable spell at the club. With the former coach, the yield was 54% — there were 45 games: 20 wins, 13 draws and 12 defeats. The current commander has a 48% advantage: 13 wins, 12 draws and 10 defeats.

More than the position in the table, this Sunday’s classic means an opportunity for affirmation for both Fábio Carille and Sylvinho.