Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thiago Ennes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Diogo Dias'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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Diogo Dias has written the date down.
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 Lusitano Évora would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Abdullah Al-Muaiouf 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 Thiago Ennes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lusitano Évora can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lusitano Évora 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 Thiago Ennes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lusitano Évora asked and Casa Pia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Lusitano Évora know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Lusitano Évora have made the call to Mafra. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Vimoj Muntu Wa Mungu is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Lusitano Évora offered $3.3M; Arouca said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Abdullah Al-Muaiouf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Thiago Ennes 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Farense have kept their man, and Lusitano Évora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dino Semedo, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
9 new faces, and Lusitano Évora 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
Diogo Dias 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lusitano Évora will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer went to Moreirense this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Abdullah Al-Muaiouf 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Thiago Ennes 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Dinis Gama has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Lusitano Évora have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portimonense have kept their man, and Lusitano Évora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fernando Reis 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lusitano Évora, another week without a signature from Diogo Clemente.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lusitano Évora will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdullah Al-Muaiouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Lusitano Évora will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sergio Costa on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Everything agreed with Sporting CP, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lusitano Évora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Lusitano Évora asked and Chaves 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 shape has not worked since the summer and the reason was never a mystery. Pedro Sanca comes in from Gil Vicente to be the missing piece, which is a flattering description and a heavy one.
Every supporter in the ground could have named the hole in this team, and most of them did, loudly, for months. Thiago Ennes has been signed to close it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lusitano Évora, another week without a signature from Dino Semedo.
In brief
Squad10 new faces, and Lusitano Évora are still learning each other