Thallyson

Central Defender - Mjondalen
18 Nov 2030
Monday
Process

Marked for Thallyson

219 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

15 matches without a win for Mjondalen

The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Mjondalen are no longer polite ones.

Boardroom

The interim tag comes off Interim Coach

Mjondalen interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.

Market

Isaiah Powis asks to leave Mjondalen

“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.

Squad

Mathias Bringaker stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Mathias Bringaker and Mjondalen agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Mathias Bringaker 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 ratings

Nothing got past Lucas Nicol

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.

Squad

Nickolay Årsbog 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 ratings

Thallyson takes the honours

Marked 7.95 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mjondalen had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Camilo Rencoret shuts the door

Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

Back issues
214 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Mjondalen part company with Interim Coach

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

Match

The wait goes on for Mjondalen

10 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.

Boardroom

Interim Coach takes charge at Mjondalen

“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.

Squad

Sebastian Hansen keeps Mjondalen in it on his own

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.

Squad

Ignacio Acosta signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Acosta and Mjondalen agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Sondre Bjørshol 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.

Squad

Angel Uñates 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 ratings

A defender's afternoon for Thallyson

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Lucas Nicol shuts the door

Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

213 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

26 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Mjondalen are in real trouble now

Position 16, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Match

9 matches without a win for Mjondalen

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Mjondalen are no longer polite ones.

Market

Isaiah Powis asks to leave Mjondalen

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Mathias Bringaker 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 ratings

A defender's afternoon for Lucas Nicol

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nickolay Årsbog

“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.

Match

Mjondalen and Bodo/Glimt cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Bodo/Glimt came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Thallyson

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 12 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Angel Uñates never got going

5.49 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

210 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Iván Cartés keeps Mjondalen in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

No end in sight to Mjondalen's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mjondalen has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Sondre Bjørshol stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Sondre Bjørshol and Mjondalen agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Mathias Bringaker 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 Mjondalen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Mjondalen count the cost of losing Nickolay Årsbog

21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Player ratings

Lucas Nicol shuts the door

Defensive actions: 20, 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 ratings

A defender's afternoon for Thallyson

Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

Mjondalen and Rosenborg cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Rosenborg came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Boardroom

$1.3M taken back off the Mjondalen table

What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.

In brief

208 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Mjondalen

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mjondalen is running low.

Squad

Kazeem Yekini: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mjondalen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

The wait goes on for Mjondalen

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Sondre Bjørshol 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.

Match

Stromsgodset take the points off Mjondalen

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Steffen Lie Skålevik

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Steffen Lie Skålevik, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Carlos Henríquez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Alexander King told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alexander King has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mjondalen.

Market

The Eivind Willumsen story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eivind Willumsen signs something — a contract at Mjondalen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

204 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Mjondalen boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Mathias Bringaker 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 Mjondalen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ignacio Acosta

“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 ratings

One of those days for Mathias Bringaker

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Mjondalen find a way past Aalesund

Aalesund made Mjondalen work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Angel Uñates in the eights

A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nickolay Årsbog runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Thallyson

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Market

The Eivind Willumsen story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eivind Willumsen signs something — a contract at Mjondalen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

197 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Mjondalen

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Mathias Bringaker 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.

Match

Mjondalen come up short against Lillestrom

Lillestrom left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Ignacio Acosta 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.

Squad

Steffen Lie Skålevik loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Steffen Lie Skålevik. Mjondalen will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

Squad

Angel Uñates finally opens his account

He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Mjondalen have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.

In brief

194 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Mjondalen

0‑3 against Stabaek, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Christian Mork Breivik 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Christian Mork Breivik

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Mork Breivik, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Mjondalen dressing room in a hurry

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.

Squad

Thallyson signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thallyson and Mjondalen agree another 3 years.

Market

The Lucas Nicol story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Nicol signs something — a contract at Mjondalen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Player ratings

Janusz Nojszewski never got going

5.78 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Squad

Nerves in the Mjondalen squad

Sondre Bjørshol has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.

Market

Still no signature from Oliver Rotihaug

4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Mjondalen could get for him.

In brief

146 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

17 matches without a win for Mjondalen

The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Mjondalen are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Iván Cartés is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Iván Cartés: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match

Mjondalen through in the cup

A 0‑0 win over Rosenborg, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Market

Kevin Cuneo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Eivind Willumsen 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.

Match

Bodo/Glimt take the points off Mjondalen

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

The kick that got away from Thallyson

Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.

Player ratings

Markus Ottesen runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

Lucas Nicol stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.90 on the card, and the Mjondalen support went home talking about one name.

In brief

142 Edition

The Mjondalen Chronicle

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

12 matches without a win for Mjondalen

The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Mjondalen are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Iván Cartés

There were 9 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.

Market

Carlos Henríquez hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Mjondalen

Eivind Willumsen 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Mjondalen against Stabaek

0‑1 to Stabaek, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Thallyson signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thallyson commits to Mjondalen for another 3 years.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nickolay Årsbog

“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 ratings

Ahmed Sayed Gharib never got going

5.42 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Ignacio Acosta

A mark of 5.61 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief