“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Taawoun can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Al-Taawoun, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Al-Taawoun that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Maílson
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Taawoun have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Al-Taawoun, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Maílson knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“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 Al-Taawoun, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Al-Taawoun, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by 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 Al-Taawoun can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Aleksandr Dovgal' has come up in conversations Al-Taawoun were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The shirt still fits. Saeed Al-Rashid is back at Al-Taawoun, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Ali Al-Mutairi is back at Al-Taawoun, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Andrei Girotto plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fahad Al-Rashidi and Al-Taawoun agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The name of Saif Rashad has come up in conversations Al-Taawoun were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Saleh Al-Amri is 33 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Maílson has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Taawoun have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Taawoun have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Angelo Fulgini has let it be known that he does not like the way Al-Taawoun are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Muteb Al-Mufarrij is still in the building
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Musa Barrow
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Fateh defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
A new face in his position, and Musa Barrow suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Al-Taawoun have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Olympique de Marseille pay $6.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Sultan Tanker has let it be known that he does not like the way Al-Taawoun are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Maílson knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
768% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Taawoun
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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“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 Al-Taawoun, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
4 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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Ibrahim Al-Hazmi, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Al-Taawoun spent the window trying to move Muteb Al-Mufarrij on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Roger Martínez
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Taawoun can pretend not to have heard.
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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Taawoun know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Omar Al-Hassan is 16, and Al-Taawoun have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Fahad Al-Subaie is 16, and Al-Taawoun have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Fahad Al-Enezi is 16, and Al-Taawoun have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
He is 16, and nobody at Al-Taawoun signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Taawoun have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The name of Bassem Al-Arini has come up in conversations Al-Taawoun were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Taawoun, and both men came out saying it was fine.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.