This was a dreadful season for Timão. In some aspects, Corinthians had an even worse league performance than that one of 2007 that got them relegated to Série B. For starters, they equaled the dreadful 44 points of that year; on top of that, Corinthians had their worst defeats record: 16 in league and 27 in the year with all competitions combined. Corinthians scored six goals less than what they did in 2007. This makes 2018 the worst performance of the team ever in modern days format of Brasileirão; luckily, the drop-line of this year was lower, and Corinthians got saved because of that, and that alone.
But how could a team that brilliantly won Brasileirão last year and even had a successful Estadual in the beginning of the year could drop their levels in such a way they struggle to keep above relegation line in the final days of the league season? A part of the failure comes from the departure of the coach Fábio Carille, who left after six rounds in Brasileirão, to join Saudi league. Carille left the club on the third place, two points short from leading the table, with three wins, two draws and just one defeat. There were also several important departures on the squad. Best scorer and arguably best player of last year’s campaign, the striker Jô was the first one to leave, and Corinthians miserably failed to replace him: Roger and Jonathan had very poor performances, and the likes of winger Romero and even the veteran midfielder Danilo were preferred at one point over the two new signings. Emblematically, the club played the two games of Brazilian cup final with a formation that had no central forwards whatsoever: the infamous 4-2-4-0 that couldn’t get past Cruzeiro.
Vitally important centre-half Balbuena joined Premiere League, Maycon signed with Shakthar to get Champions League action in 2018, Arana joined Seville; last but not least, the creative source Rodriguinho was also on the go in 2018 to join Egyptian big money side Pyramids. Even some useful reserves were gone, such as Marquinhos Gabriel, Giovanni Augusto, Moisés or Marlone. With this absolutely devastating exodus, Corinthians was unable to keep their heights of last year, specially since the replacements were barely existant. Corinthians was left a diminutive and clearly uncapable squad to face 2018 league season, and the results were catastrophic.
Angel Romero, particularly during that period immediately after the World Cup pause, showed some talent in the final third. But it was the likes of Cássio and Jadson to have the most regular performances during the season. Youngster Pedrinho is definitely a great talent, but needs to add regularity and good decision making ability to his game.
