It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.59 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Persijap will make the call about Kurniawan Saddil this week. Persija have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Emmanuel Ini has his answer from Persija; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.41 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.68 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persija have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadAllano falls out with a teammate over standards
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Denis Kolinger scored, was marked 7.39, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Mota is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jean Mota. 1‑0 against Borneo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nazareno Bazán Vera. 2‑0 against Maluku Utara United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ryo Matsumura has his answer from Persija; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Persebaya the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Persija will enjoy reviewing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jean Mota signs something — a contract at Persija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Jean Mota falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Maxwell Mulili is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazareno Bazán Vera provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rachmat Wibowo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persija can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Mota is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from PSM for Fawaz Al-Hamad was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Persija will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from PSM for Angga Saputra was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Alaaeddine Ajaraie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Persija have had the benefit of it.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadJean Mota falls out with a teammate over standards
MarketTheo Leeming comes back from a loan that worked
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Persija will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jean Mota signs something — a contract at Persija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Persija have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andritany Adhiyasa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sousa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Alaaeddine Ajaraie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadAllano falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Mota is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jean Mota signs something — a contract at Persija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
4 goals in 27 games at Madura United — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Persija updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andritany Adhiyasa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
BoardroomWages eat 122% of everything Persija earn
The words a physio says slowly. 81 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persija training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 88 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The words a physio says slowly. 95 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nickson Ironsi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jean Mota signs something — a contract at Persija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
6 goals in 26 games at PSIM — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Persija updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.24 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andritany Adhiyasa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nazareno Bazán Vera. 2‑1 against Persib, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.73 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Persija and PSM in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to Dewa United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Persija and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
Squad18 Sep 2028
5 new faces, and Persija are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The words a physio says slowly. 117 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persija they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alaaeddine Ajaraie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Olebogeng Ntlhaile has just signed for Persija, and for once the answer mattered.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 126 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nickson Ironsi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
91 minutes played. Mirkomil Murodov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Persis went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andritany Adhiyasa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Mirkomil Murodov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mirkomil Murodov. 1‑0 against Persis, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Persija can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Persija game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dewa United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persija they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Borneo left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordi Amat is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Still no offer on the table, and Witan Sulaeman’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Ryo Matsumura obliged against Persita. 1‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Persija.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Carlos Eduardo: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persija they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nazareno Bazán Vera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordi Amat is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jordi Amat will call it something else in private.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Persebaya? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nazareno Bazán Vera. 1‑0 against PSIM, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.24 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Andritany Adhiyasa has agreed terms with Bali United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.30 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Three points for Persija, 1‑0 the final word against Persik in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sousa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Dewa United will make the call about Pratama Septian this week. Persija have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: PSM have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Angga Saputra. The answer from Persija has not changed — yet.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sousa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persija have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persija they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Denis Kolinger's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A 2‑1 win over Maluku Utara United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Mirkomil Murodov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Mirkomil Murodov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nickson Ironsi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nickson Ironsi has agreed terms with PSM for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match13 May 2028
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Persija. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Semen Padang made Persija work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sousa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Riyatno Abiyoso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persija know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.79, and 2 involvements.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Persija where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to PSIM until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
In brief
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Denis Kolinger's mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.85 on the card, and the Persija support went home talking about one name.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rizky Ridho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
12 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Riyatno Abiyoso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persija is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Persija has been clear about where Paulo Ricardo stands, which is more than many ever get.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordi Amat is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad27 Mar 2028
9 new faces, and Persija are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
PSIM left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sousa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pratama Septian will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persija the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.68, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1 for Denis Kolinger, marked 7.65, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Comfort Ngubo is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordi Amat is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persija they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Persija, and it is not being withdrawn.
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The offer from PSM for Theo Leeming was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Jordi Amat falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Persija have had the benefit of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persija can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Theo Leeming has come up in conversations Persija were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Persija, and 8 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Persija have had the benefit of it.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 2, 56 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Persija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riyatno Abiyoso is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market11 Oct 2027
Persija may not be able to give Allano what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Allano wants continental football; whether Persija can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Kadú was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadPaulo Ricardo has become a man the manager trusts
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Persib spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Luiz Gustavo will call it something else in private.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Persija are still learning each other
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Persija told Radovan Pankov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Persija man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Radovan Pankov was the best thing in any of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Persija pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 9 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Persijap spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Persija have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Persija, and 6 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Persija told Po'latxo'ja Xoldorxonov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.32 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Allano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persija lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Persija pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.