Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
7 goals in one match, Ilja Gruznov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Arsenal Tula 2 and Kvant.
Mikhail Kozin 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Grigory Ladin, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 3‑4 defeat, delivered by Arseny Grigoryev to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 4 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kvant in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Timur Kim’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Arsenal Tula 2 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Danil Pyatibratov signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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.
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.
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.” Arseny Grigoryev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 7. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Chances created: 5. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Mikhail Kozin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 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.
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.
Minute 90, against Orel, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Arseny Grigoryev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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.
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.
He is 23 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Arseny Grigoryev could afford to be generous.
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.
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.
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 are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Avangard 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Danil Pyatibratov signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.90, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
He is 23 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.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Arsenal Tula 2 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Arseny Grigoryev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Arsenal Tula 2 dressing room was either.
“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.
1‑4 to Salyut, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.” Arseny Grigoryev after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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.
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. Danil Pyatibratov has moved up it.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Arsenal Tula 2 man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Ilja Gruznov was the best thing in any of them.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Timur Kim
Mikhail Kozin 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.
A 2‑0 win over Kvant, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Arseny Grigoryev kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Ilja Gruznov has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
“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.
Squad20 Sep 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.
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.
0‑2 to Ryazan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout20 Sep 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 Arseny Grigoryev left the room before anybody could ask which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kvant in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Successful dribbles: 10. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ufa moved on, Roman Izotov reports back to Arsenal Tula 2, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Ilja Gruznov 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.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Arsenal Tula 2 has been clear about where Georgy Badjin stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Timur Kim’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Arsenal Tula 2 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Danil Pyatibratov signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
A brace, and Ilja Sokolov takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ilja Sokolov provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Zhirayr Ashikyan 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.
3 goals inside twenty minutes with Ilja Gruznov in the middle of it, and Zenit Penza unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Gordeev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Arseny Grigoryev, on a 4‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutArtem Gordeev dropped after a run of poor form
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 Timur Kim signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Alexey Kolyshev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Yaroslav Demchenko 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutYegor Sidorov knocks on the manager’s door
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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Sidorov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Ilja Sokolov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Minute 88, against Ryazan, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Arseny Grigoryev was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Arsenal Tula 2 dressing room was either.
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.
Mikhail Kozin 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.
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.
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 Artem Kuzin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikita Karmaev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Arsenal Tula 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal Tula 2 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Dinamo Bryansk, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.” Arseny Grigoryev after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal Tula 2 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Arseny Grigoryev after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Yegor Knyazev
The dugoutNikita Karmaev asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal Tula 2 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 13 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Arsenal Tula 2.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Chances created: 8. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal Tula 2 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Sidorov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yegor Sidorov is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
He is 21 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.
15 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Arseny Grigoryev, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Maxim Sergeev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexey Kolyshev signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Arseny Grigoryev to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kvant in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
At 21 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Arsenal Tula 2 have a decision that made itself.
Arsenal Tula 2 opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Nikita Karmaev stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
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.
“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 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.
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 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.
“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 Yegor Knyazev.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Arseny Grigoryev to a room that had heard them before.
Dinamo St Petersburg arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexey Kolyshev and Arsenal Tula 2 agree another 4 years.
Alexey Kolyshev 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.
Znamya Truda left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
“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 Alexey Kolyshev.
Squad3 Aug 2026
17 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.