Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jegors Olijars is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Federico Vázquez 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.
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.
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Trapani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolaus Wurmbrand 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 9.34 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trapani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Tobias Slotsager 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.
The mood at Trapani has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Trapani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enrico Celeghin 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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Enis Ujkaj was one of the reasons people came, and $1.5M does not replace that by itself.
Federico Vázquez 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 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.
In brief
SquadAt 21, Borna Knezović is already the best thing here
6 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.
Add another name to the list: Al Ain have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Enis Ujkaj. The answer from Trapani has not changed — yet.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Trapani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enrico Celeghin 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.
Edoardo Borrelli 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 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.
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Trapani paid $330.0K and Catanzaro took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filippo Pittarello 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrei Moţoc will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trapani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Emanuele Bassi has just signed for Trapani, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Andrei Moţoc has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
The chase for Edoardo Borrelli ended with $330.0K changing hands and Catanzaro out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Federico Vázquez 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 terraces18 Jan 2027
Trapani spend $330.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $330.0K for Edoardo Borrelli, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Trapani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enrico Celeghin 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 kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Filippo Pittarello provided it, and the 8.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marc-Olivier Kehi is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Frosinone tried to reorganise, Catanzaro did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Patrick Nuamah did not need any: 8.19, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Edoardo Borrelli is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Patrick Nuamah 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.
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.
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.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Catanzaro deserved better, and so did he.