33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Krylya Sovetov can pretend not to have heard.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Krylya Sovetov scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nikita Krivtsov wants continental football; whether Krylya Sovetov can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nikita Krivtsov 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
A brace, and Marcelo Ryan takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marcelo Ryan provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Krylya Sovetov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Ryan 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.
A 2‑1 win over Baltika, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match29 Sep 2029
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Krylya Sovetov. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nicolás Benedetti signs something — a contract at Krylya Sovetov or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.92 on the card, and the Krylya Sovetov support went home talking about one name.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raimundo Rebolledo 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 Krylya Sovetov, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Krylya Sovetov, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Igor Nolewajka did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Ryan 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 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Igor Nolewajka 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.
19 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.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Krylya Sovetov can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexandr Osipov has just signed for Krylya Sovetov, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Krylya Sovetov hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nikita Krivtsov 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Marcelo Ryan 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.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Krylya Sovetov rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Dinamo Moscow had no answer to any of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Igor Leschuk and Krylya Sovetov agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nicolás Benedetti 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.
A 3‑2 win over Dinamo Moscow, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.35 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marcelo Ryan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
Nikita Krivtsov 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Marcelo Ryan 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Krylya Sovetov, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
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.
“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 Krylya Sovetov know 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 Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nikita Krivtsov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Ural, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Benedetti 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 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Nikita Krivtsov had Krylya Sovetov level again within 3 minutes, and Ural never got to play with a lead at all.
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.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Krylya Sovetov, 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 Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Orenburg pay $850.0K, 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Igor Leschuk 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.
Shinnik will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nikolay Kuzminykh has pre-agreed a move to Krylya Sovetov, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Konstantin Nizhegorodov has his answer from Krylya Sovetov; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Krylya Sovetov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Egor Karpitskiy has his answer from Krylya Sovetov; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Krylya Sovetov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nikita Krivtsov 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Marcelo Ryan 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Marcelo Ryan in the middle of it, and Dinamo Makhachkala unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
“I did not go to Spartak Moscow to sit and watch. I want to come back to Krylya Sovetov and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Igor Nolewajka is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Nicolás Benedetti 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jhon Palacios wants continental football; whether Krylya Sovetov can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The fee is $2.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Rodina drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Igor Andreev has just signed for Krylya Sovetov, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Nikita Krivtsov 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.
8 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The terraces16 Jul 2029
Krylya Sovetov spend $2.8M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $2.8M for Igor Andreev, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Dmitry Kumsarov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Krylya Sovetov have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Krylya Sovetov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from BATE for Chinedu Geoffrey was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Krylya Sovetov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Ryan 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 unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Vladislav Shitov is somebody else's player now, and $400.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
The chase for Marcelo Ryan ended with $4.8M changing hands and Spartak Moscow out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Krylya Sovetov can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Chinedu Geoffrey again, and this time the name on the line is BATE. Krylya Sovetov are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Krylya Sovetov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Benedetti 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.
Position 2, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee is $4.3M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Krasnodar drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Krylya Sovetov pay $4.8M, 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Juan Manuel Boselli has just signed for Spartak Moscow, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer from Dinamo Makhachkala for Christopher Wooh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Botafogo, the club has $21.4M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The name of Artem Bykovskiy has come up in conversations Spartak Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The phone has started ringing about Miro again, and this time the name on the line is Aris Thessaloniki. Spartak Moscow are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Spartak Moscow will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Add another name to the list: Maccabi Tel Aviv have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marcelo Ryan. The answer from Spartak Moscow has not changed — yet.
Theo Bongonda 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Spartak Moscow hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
12 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak Moscow heard it as anything else.
Nobody at Spartak Moscow 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.
Theo Bongonda 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Daniil Zorin 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.
“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 Spartak Moscow, 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Theo Bongonda 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Spartak Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Spartak Moscow know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.
Theo Bongonda 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 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amín Molinas 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.
Out, 1‑2 to Pari Nizhniy Novgorod, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
“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 Spartak Moscow, 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Pari Nizhniy Novgorod paid $5.2M and Spartak Moscow took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. David Semenchuk is living that version at Spartak Moscow, and it tends to show in the first month.
Every dressing room knows how to read a signing like this one. David Semenchuk is not here to sit and wait indefinitely, and the man whose place he has been bought to take knows it better than anyone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Position 2, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Amín Molinas is living that version at Spartak Moscow, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer from Akron for Vladislav Saus was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Amín Molinas comes from General Diaz for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.
Theo Bongonda 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
12 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Alexandr Maximenko has given nobody the chance.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Joel Anasmo 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zalgiris will make the call about Oleg Reabciuk this week. Spartak Moscow have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
16 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Saldanha wants continental football; whether Spartak Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak Moscow heard it as anything else.
“I watch every Spartak Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rostov runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Spartak Moscow have had the benefit of 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Karim Dejagah wants continental football; whether Spartak Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Marked 9.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Derby days make names, and Esequiel Barco made his against Zenit. 1‑0, bragging rights secured, and one half of town will be tired of hearing about him by Tuesday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Denisov 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 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.
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.
Theo Bongonda 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Spartak Moscow hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Sochi made Spartak Moscow work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Denisov 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Spartak Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
Beaten 1‑2 by Lokomotiv Moscow in the one fixture that is never just a fixture. Work, school, the corner shop — there will be no getting away from this one.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Theo Bongonda 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.93 beside his name.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
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.
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Denisov 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 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 Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Ilja Samoshnikov 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Saus 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.
Christopher Wooh 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 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak Moscow heard it as anything else.
Marked 8.49. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Spartak Moscow.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Samoshnikov 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 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Saldanha’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Spartak Moscow.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Samoshnikov 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.
19 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Vladislav Saus at his very best
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and CSKA Moscow spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Theo Bongonda 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alex Fernandes wants continental football; whether Spartak Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The offer from Torpedo Moscow for Christopher Wooh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Miro 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.
Marked 8.79 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Add another name to the list: Torpedo Moscow have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Christopher Wooh. The answer from Spartak Moscow has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
8 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 offer from Baltika for Christopher Wooh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Daniil Zorin has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Dinamo Moscow held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Spartak Moscow answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak Moscow heard it as anything else.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Wooh 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.
Miro 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Baltika for Christopher Wooh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Daniil Shantaliy has just signed for Spartak Moscow, and for once the answer mattered.
Alexander Djiku 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartak Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Theo Bongonda 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oleg Reabciuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Spartak Moscow have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Denisov 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 words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
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 ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
The loan was meant to give him football. 4 games and 0 goals later he is back at Spartak Moscow no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Roman Zobnin damages knee ligaments — 117 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Spartak Moscow support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Spartak Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alexander Djiku 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Marcelo Ryan wants continental football; whether Spartak Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Roman Zobnin damages knee ligaments — 133 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Spartak Moscow hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 did not go to Chelyabinsk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartak Moscow and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 38 matches say the rest.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak Moscow they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Theo Bongonda 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Spartak Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Wooh 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 watch every Spartak Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rubin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Theo Bongonda 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 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Wooh 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 Spartak Moscow, and 0 appearances in 31 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Theo Bongonda 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Spartak Moscow have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Levi Garcia 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Levi Garcia 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.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levi Garcia signs something — a contract at Spartak Moscow or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Danil Prutsev will want back
The sale went through, the money came with it, and everything anybody had planned for next season is now provisional. New owners always arrive promising patience.
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Spartak Moscow are no longer polite ones.
The terraces3 Jan 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Spartak Moscow will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Levi Garcia 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak Moscow heard it as anything else.
Theo Bongonda 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.
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Levi Garcia 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I watch every Spartak Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chaika runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Ryan 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 watch every Spartak Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chelyabinsk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It needed Gedson Fernandes to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Dinamo Makhachkala, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Levi Garcia
Theo Bongonda 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Getting past Alexandr Maximenko has become the hardest job in the division
12 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Marcelo Ryan 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Spartak Moscow, and 4 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Spartak Moscow will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Alexander Djiku 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levi Garcia 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Marcelo Ryan 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.
Dmitry Vorobjov 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.
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Alexis Sánchez decided nobody was going anywhere. Leningradets had no time left to answer.
“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 Spartak Moscow know it.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ilja Ivarlak is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Ryan 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.
Ilja Samoshnikov 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.
“I did not go to Chelyabinsk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartak Moscow and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 22 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Levi Garcia 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Spartak Moscow, and 3 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.