Marked for Denis Şandro
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jaguares may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Cristian Barrios 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Cristian Barrios 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Carlos Henao
“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.
Match31 Jul 2027
0‑2 to Once Caldas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Jul 2027
Jaguares bow out of the cup
Deportes Tolima go through and Jaguares go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jaguares this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Jul 2027
Santa Fe made Jaguares work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Denis Şandro gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Jaguares, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Jun 2027
5 matches without a win for Jaguares
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Jaguares are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Cristian Barrios 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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Santiago Cubides again, and this time the name on the line is Envigado. Jaguares are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Yairo Moreno gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Gregorio Tombesi has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sassuolo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sassuolo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Jun 2027
Galatasaray are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Sassuolo will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Rolfini, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Nemanja Matić knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nemanja Matić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Sassuolo pull $2.1M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Domenico Berardi
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Sassuolo would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Market7 Jun 2027
The shop window has Flávio Ramos in it
Sassuolo have let the market know Flávio Ramos can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
36 appearances at Sampdoria and the goals keep coming. Sassuolo are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Sassuolo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sassuolo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
Tarik Muharemović 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.
Squad3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Jay Idzes
“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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.18 — 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.
Squad3 May 2027
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I watch every Sassuolo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sorrento runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Marco Cuccurullo 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Denis Şandro gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Sorrento
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Daniele Solcia 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 114% of everything Sorrento earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match20 Feb 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Monopoli leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Daniele Solcia knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sorrento, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Marco Cuccurullo 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Daniele Solcia
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martim Madeira commits to Sorrento for another 3 years.
Market1 Feb 2027
Martim Madeira is 20, and Sorrento have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denis Şandro, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Federico Ricci. Sorrento will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Match30 Jan 2027
Point won or two lost for Sorrento?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Cosenza? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Sassuolo's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sassuolo has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the Sassuolo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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. Sassuolo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tarik Muharemović 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
2‑3 to AC Milan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.79, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Arijanet Murić knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Denis Şandro in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Siracusa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.23 — 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 ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 12, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Dec 2026
100 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Ludovico Del Sorbo 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marco Cuccurullo. 1‑0 against Potenza, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sassuolo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
Juventus left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
227% of the income goes out in wages at Sassuolo
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.63, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad30 Nov 2026
58 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Sorrento to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sassuolo and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
8 matches without a win for Sassuolo
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Sassuolo are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sassuolo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Pisa left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
227% of the income goes out in wages at Sassuolo
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Alieu Fadera
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Sorrento
7 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 389% of everything Sorrento earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Denis Şandro 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Solcia, and the manager let it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Sorrento
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Şandro
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Sorrento support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sorrento may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Sorrento's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sorrento has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Daniele Solcia 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonio Matera, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 32 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Marco Cuccurullo 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
713% of the income goes out in wages at Sorrento
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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Darryl Geurts knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sorrento, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match3 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Sorrento?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Picerno? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A mark of 5.80 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Sorrento
0‑1 against Potenza, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.72 — 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Şandro
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Sorrento lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Denis Şandro in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ludovico Del Sorbo 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
2‑3 to Benevento, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 429% of everything Sorrento earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darryl Geurts, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.39 — 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A first senior shirt for Denis Şandro
Every debut is a small story about the future: Denis Şandro, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The fee is $630.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Catania drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tarik Muharemović 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Andrea Pinamonti keeps the shirt for now, at Sassuolo's convenience rather than his own.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Sassuolo would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sorrento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A new face in his position, and Federico Ricci suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sorrento have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market17 Aug 2026
A season-long audition: Sassuolo still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Sorrento's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.