The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Bruno Leanza reports back to Confiança with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Iago Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Robson Reis 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Confiança know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 The request is on a desk at Confiança, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Confiança is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isaac was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Confiança can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Isaac is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fabrício Bigode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança 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 Confiança is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Confiança have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Isaac and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robson Reis 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.
Marked 6.75 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.
Athletico Paranaense go through and Confiança go home, 3‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fabrício Bigode provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wanderson Barros will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Confiança the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Confiança can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Confiança can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 15 combined actions and a mark of 7.09, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Robson Reis 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Junior Rangel is living that version at Confiança, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Reidiner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Confiança lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Confiança, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Confiança have made the call to Unión de Santa Fe. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Fabrício Bigode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Confiança have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Iago Santos 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.
Confiança asked and Grêmio 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.
He is 23 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Barba. 2‑0 against Operário Ferroviário, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mateus Guimarães on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Natan Costa is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.” Confiança have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Reidiner 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alex Muralha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Wesley is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Confiança has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Confiança know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
An order from above at Confiança: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Confiança 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 Alex Nascimento was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Confiança has been clear about where Fabrício Bigode stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alex Nascimento is on it.
1 for Natan Costa, marked 7.63, 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.
Robson Reis 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.
Kevin González scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Retrô, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Murilo 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: 16. 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Mateus Guimarães left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Márcio Silva wants continental football; whether Confiança 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 Confiança this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Confiança and Náutico in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Murilo 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 19 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Confiança 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 Confiança this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Murilo 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.
Everybody at Confiança 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.
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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Confiança has been clear about where Alessandro Vinícius stands, which is more than many ever get.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Confiança had all but put away. Ypiranga will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Nascimento was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Wesley Rodrigues is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Confiança told Felipe Micael something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutNatan Costa has become a man the manager trusts
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Confiança have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Wesley Rodrigues 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Murilo 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucca Prior 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Wesley Rodrigues, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Iago Santos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Confiança has been clear about where Buba stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Confiança can pretend not to have heard.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Iago Santos 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 JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Igor and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança 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 Confiança this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Nascimento 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Inter de Limeira had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It needed Felipe Micael to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Inter de Limeira, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Something was said to Recife and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Confiança, and it is not being withdrawn.
Robson Reis 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Confiança and Ituano, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ituano left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Aug 2027
JP Murilo 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.
He is 19 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A brace, and Felipe Micael takes the afternoon — 8.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Felipe Micael provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Iago Santos 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
JP Murilo 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.
He is 22 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.
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. 11 actions, 7.53, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Fabricio decided nobody was going anywhere. Figueirense had no time left to answer.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The chase for Mateus Xavier ended with $640.0K changing hands and Central out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $400.0K — a club that wants Samuel Félix enough to be asked twice.
Iago Santos 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Nascimento 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Fabricio 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
0‑4 against Operário Ferroviário, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Confiança can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Confiança have done the hard part with Criciúma, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Márcio Silva wants continental football; whether Confiança can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Robson Reis 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 JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucca Prior 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Confiança will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Confiança can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Palmeiras keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Raykkonen did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The offer went to Criciúma 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Confiança asked and Horizonte said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
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: JP Murilo. 2‑1 against Retrô, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 22 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Natan Costa
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Raykkonen provided it, and the 8.85 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
$640.0K on the table at Fortaleza. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Confiança asked and Botafogo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Confiança this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Murilo 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kauê Canela 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 19 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The clubs have shaken hands with São Bernardo; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Confiança 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 JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Mustakas and Confiança agree another 3 years.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Confiança will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Reidiner has, at Confiança, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Confiança and Mirassol have settled on $93.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $290.0K has been paid because Reidiner is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Robson Reis 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Confiança training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Nascimento 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.
Iago Santos 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 JP Murilo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ypiranga held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Confiança answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mateus Guimarães after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say JP Murilo is on it.