Luiz Mandaca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fausto Perezlindo 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Brusque, another week without a signature from Lucas Evaristo.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brusque lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luiz Mandaca wants continental football; whether Brusque can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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 Brusque 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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
In brief
The dugoutJorge Núñez knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Edílson's mistake
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brusque lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Luiz Mandaca 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fausto Perezlindo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brusque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Evaristo signs something — a contract at Brusque or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Brusque they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luiz Mandaca 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.
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 is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Brusque are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Brusque would like to admit. It is showing 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 Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Augusto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Brusque had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Rodrigo Carvalho, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Krobel asks for a word with the manager
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Melk did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Luiz Mandaca 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matheus Nogueira 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Brusque pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout22 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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Rodrigo Carvalho to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Krobel asks for a word with the manager
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque 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 Felipe Augusto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Brusque had all but put away. Ponte Preta will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Juan Rikelme will call it something else in private.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Felipe Augusto has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Marked 7.71. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Brunão'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.
Luiz Mandaca 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Augusto 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Brusque.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than André Krobel
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Rodrigo Carvalho could afford to be generous.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Brusque pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Krobel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Brusque 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Edílson'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.
Botafogo-PB next, and one man in the Brusque dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A side in position 3 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Edílson on the training pitch
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque 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 Matheus Nogueira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Brusque pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
That is the business done at Brusque until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Luiz Mandaca 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Augusto 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Brusque will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Brusque told Felipe Augusto something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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 Brusque, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Brusque have done the hard part with São Bernardo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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. Brown de Adrogué have kept their man, and Brusque go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.06, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Augusto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Felipe Dias has his answer from Brusque; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout24 May 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Rodrigo Carvalho to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Krobel knocks on the manager's door
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Brusque offered $18.0K; Portuguesa 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.
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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anderson Mauro, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
8 new faces, and Brusque 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.
Matheus Nogueira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Augusto 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rodrigo Carvalho after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Renan Areias 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Italo Lucas did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Edílson has just signed for Brusque, 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Gabriel Davis in the middle of it, and Retrô unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Porfirio and Pouso Alegre agree another 2 years.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Douglas Lima after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Alemão is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Goianésia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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. Pouso Alegre will not keep him by pretending otherwise.