102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zurich lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zurich can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tommaso Gabellini did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tommaso Gabellini is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 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 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Remo Freuler 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.
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valon Berisha 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.
Remo Freuler 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.
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Ivan Cavaleiro, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philippe Keny 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 words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Remo Freuler 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Zurich training over how hard people work
“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 Sion, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadIvan Cavaleiro falls out with a teammate over standards
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zurich lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zurich will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Remo Freuler 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dario Marzino has his answer from Zurich; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Juan-José Perea 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Remo Freuler 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.
Remo Freuler 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.
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eray Cömert 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.
1 for Eray Cömert, marked 7.96, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Livano Comenencia again, and this time the name on the line is Lugano. Zurich are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Remo Freuler 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.
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.
Remo Freuler 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eray Cömert 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.
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.
The phone has started ringing about David Vujević again, and this time the name on the line is Sion. Zurich are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chris Kablan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zurich the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Remo Freuler 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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zurich lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zurich they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zurich lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Remo Freuler 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Zurich training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Juan-José Perea 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Zurich training over how hard people work
“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 Vaduz, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clement Bischoff 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.
In brief
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Brian Beyer's mistake
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zurich lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Zurich, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Eray Cömert 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.
Sion go through and Zurich go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Remo Freuler 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eray Cömert 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.