Luis Haquín 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.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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-Ta'ee, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nader Al-Muwallad is 34 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.
92 minutes played. Marlon found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Al-Batin went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 The request is on a desk at Al-Ta'ee, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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 watch every Al-Ta'ee game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Ettifaq runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A brace, and Törles Knöll takes the afternoon — 8.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Törles Knöll provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Hassan Al-Amri 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Törles Knöll. 3‑1 against Al-Mojzel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ta'ee training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonata Machado 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Ta'ee will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
24 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ta'ee training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Halilović 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 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-Ta'ee, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Ta'ee 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 Al-Ta'ee 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Ta'ee 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 Al-Ta'ee 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.
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Up for the corner, and Luis Haquín delivers — 7.99
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luis Haquín scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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-Ta'ee, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Al-Batin spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Luis Haquín 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Törles Knöll. 2‑1 against Al-Batin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Ta'ee has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Ta'ee training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Halilović 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 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-Ta'ee, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Luis Haquín'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.
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.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Ta'ee, another week without a signature from Dino Halilović.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Al-Ta'ee has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.