Gui Sales and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Riascos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Riascos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Monte Azul would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monte Azul 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
151% of the income goes out in wages at Monte Azul
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.
Marked 7.11 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Wesley Borges to a room that had heard them before.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Caio Bahia will call it something else in private.
In brief
MarketMonte Azul and Léo are talking past each other
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Daniel Riascos decided nobody was going anywhere. Marcílio Dias had no time left to answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monte Azul they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7.49, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luís Fernando was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Guilherme Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Monte Azul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wallace 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
184% of the income goes out in wages at Monte Azul
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Monte Azul than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Allan Bahia’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Monte Azul needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Monte Azul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑3 to Brasil de Pelotas, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Gui Sales 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Figueirense have kept their man, and Monte Azul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wallace was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Monte Azul will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Portuguesa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Monte Azul have gone to Grêmio with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Monte Azul asked and Água Santa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wallace was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Monte Azul saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Gui Sales and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Monte Azul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wallace 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.
“I watch every Monte Azul game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Santa Cruz de Natal runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Gui Sales 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Monte Azul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wallace 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Wallace signs something — a contract at Monte Azul or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monte Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wallace was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Santana signs something — a contract at Monte Azul or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Caio Pereira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 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 it has been tried.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zuconelli, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Caio Bahia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Léo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Monte Azul asked and Nova Iguaçu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monte Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Monte Azul than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The deal with Botafogo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Clayton Nascimento is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Gui Sales 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferroviária have kept their man, and Monte Azul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Monte Azul is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Monte Azul people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monte Azul 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 Monte Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Joinville paid $59.0K and Monte Azul took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Riascos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.