Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
The offer from Metalist for David Matei was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bakary Haïdara is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Claudiu Cicaldau has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mihai Coman is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Viitorul waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Universitatea Craiova is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Universitatea Craiova heard it as anything else.
Universitatea Craiova offered $780.0K; FCSB said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
David Matei falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of George Bancu
Universitatea Craiova offered $59.0K; Astra said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Universitatea Craiova asked and Viitorul said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luca Băsceanu and Universitatea Craiova agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Matei is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutLuca Băsceanu knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
David Matei 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Position 5, 27 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Luca Băsceanu has written the date down.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Universitatea Craiova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Universitatea Craiova hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Matei 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mailey Lépaulard-Nibo and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicuşor Bancu is on it.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitatea Craiova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova 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 David Matei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
59 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Universitatea Craiova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Universitatea Craiova heard it as anything else.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 David Matei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
7 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitatea Craiova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 had been thinking. David Matei 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.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Adams Friday has written the date down.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitatea Craiova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Assad Al Hamlawi and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 David Matei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Universitatea Craiova heard it as anything else.
Assad Al Hamlawi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
David Matei 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.
He is 19, and nobody at Universitatea Craiova signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kyllian Kolela and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicuşor Bancu is on it.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 David Matei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Elfayed Maanrifa and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Universitatea Craiova will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikola Stevanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Elfayed Maanrifa arrives at Universitatea Craiova with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Matei 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.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
27 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Matei 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Cicaldau and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zob Ahan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universitatea Craiova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Assad Al Hamlawi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
David Matei 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.
Universitatea Craiova asked and FCSB said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Assad Al Hamlawi is on it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Universitatea Craiova are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universitatea Craiova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Universitatea Craiova have had the benefit of it.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 had been thinking. David Matei 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.
Universitatea Craiova asked and CFR Cluj said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dinamo Bucharest have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Universitatea Craiova have made the call to CFR Cluj. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutCarlos Mora has become a man the manager trusts
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Assad Al Hamlawi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
David Matei 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Łukasz Góra and Universitatea Craiova agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Heriberto Tavares is on it.
0‑4. Racing Genk play this football every year and it showed in every part of the pitch. The lesson is expensive and, for a club at this stage, probably necessary.
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 Universitatea Craiova 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 David Matei 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.” Paul Nita after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
David Matei 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.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paul Nita after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 27 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Barbu did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Petrolul. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad22 Nov 2027
David Matei 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 21 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.
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Universitatea Craiova.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Afonso Silva 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Răzvan Sava is on it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paul Nita was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Universitatea Craiova dressing room was either.
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Steven Nsimba is somebody else's player now, and $130.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
0‑3 against AZ. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universitatea Craiova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told David Matei.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Universitatea Craiova hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Răzvan Sava, and the manager let it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Afonso Silva 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Universitatea Craiova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against FCSB? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Matei and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 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 Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Paul Nita after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Universitatea Craiova can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Mihai Toma 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.
Assad Al Hamlawi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I watch every Universitatea Craiova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Viitorul runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Universitatea Craiova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Răzvan Sava has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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. Universitatea Craiova will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“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 Universitatea Craiova, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Universitatea Craiova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Universitatea Craiova asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 5 separate groups, 4 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universitatea Craiova will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Alexandru Cicâldău 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.
“I watch every Universitatea Craiova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Luzern runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universitatea Craiova will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A brace, and Simon Elisor takes the afternoon — 9.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simon Elisor provided it, and the 9.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. David Matei 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.
Marked 8.75. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Universitatea Craiova.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Matei and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years.
Assad Al Hamlawi 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 deal that would have taken Silviu Lung to FCSB has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Universitatea Craiova with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Universitatea Craiova had all but put away. Petrolul will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.