“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 The request is on a desk at Arsenal Tula 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nikita Karmaev 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Nobody at Arsenal Tula 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Tula 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Arsenal Tula 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Denis Grigorjev signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Maxim Chernov did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Timur Kim 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maxim Chernov. 1‑0 against Znamya Truda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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 no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Arsenal Tula 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denis Grigorjev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nikita Karmaev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The goal that put Strogino ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Arsenal Tula 2 equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alexandr Bastrykin has come out of that comparison in the side, and Arsenal Tula 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Arsenal Tula 2 told Maxim Chernov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nikita Karmaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Arsenal Tula 2 told Mikhail Kozin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“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.
Maxim Chernov is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rodina M defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Kolyshev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Arsenal Tula 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Zenit Penza next, and one man in the Arsenal Tula 2 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal Tula 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kvant were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.90, and 2 involvements.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Kvant spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Alexey Kolyshev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Mikhail Kozin
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Ryazan next, and one man in the Arsenal Tula 2 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Nobody at Arsenal Tula 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Arsenal Tula 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Matvey Kholin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Mikhail Kozin has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stepan Obryvkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arsenal Tula 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Konstantin Nechkin reports back to Arsenal Tula 2 with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Karmaev, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Arsenal Tula 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Arsenal Tula 2 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Artem Kuzin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuzin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Arsenal Tula 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Stepan Obryvkov will call it something else in private.
Mikhail Tsulaia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Vyacheslav Belousov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuzin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Artem Kuzin has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Konstantin Nechkin is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Bastrykin. 2‑1 against Kvant, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stepan Obryvkov 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Timur Kim is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Stepan Obryvkov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
3‑0, and Ilja Sokolov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Arsenal Tula 2 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Ilja Sokolov takes the afternoon — 7.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ilja Sokolov provided it, and the 7.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuzin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boris Parsegov 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vyacheslav Belousov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Kvant next, and one man in the Arsenal Tula 2 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“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 Dec 2026
Artem Kuzin 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ryazan in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
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 Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Vyacheslav Belousov left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Arsenal Tula 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dinamo Bryansk left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Knyazev 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Vyacheslav Belousov left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The medical room confirms 27 days on the sidelines for Timur Kim, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Yegor Knyazev 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Arsenal Tula 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal Tula 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Arsenal Tula 2, another week without a signature from Yaroslav Demchenko.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Nikita Karmaev has moved up it.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nikita Karmaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Arsenal Tula 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal Tula 2 can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutYegor Knyazev knocks on the manager’s door
“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 Arsenal Tula 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mikhail Kozin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vyacheslav Belousov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Arsenal Tula 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yegor Knyazev and Arsenal Tula 2 agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Timur Kim 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Znamya Truda held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Arsenal Tula 2 answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
18 new faces, and Arsenal Tula 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A 2‑2 draw with Znamya Truda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Vyacheslav Belousov chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.