Marked for Ayman Fallatah
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Ahli know it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Galeno 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 Al-Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Roger Ibañez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Ahli 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
A promise honoured at Al-Ahli
Something was said to Saleh Abu Al-Shamat and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Al-Khaibari, and the manager let it.
Market11 Oct 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mohammed Qasem has his answer from Al-Ahli; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market11 Oct 2027
Galeno linked with a move away
The name of Galeno keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ahli say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“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 Al-Ahli will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Galeno
-
Looking ahead
Home comforts ahead for Al-Ahli
-
Squad
Matheus Gonçalves makes the division’s eleven — 6.92
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Al-Batin had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market21 Jun 2027
“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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Abdullah Al-Mogren again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Riyadh. Al-Faisaly are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Al-Faisaly asked and Lecco said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ayman Fallatah 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Al-Faisaly have made the call to Rah Ahan. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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 Fernando Pacheco is on it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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 dugout21 Jun 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Faisaly. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match18 Nov 2026
A 2‑2 win over Al-Wehda, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Al-Ittihad, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A brace, and Abdullah Al-Mogren takes the afternoon — 9.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdullah Al-Mogren provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Theo Bongonda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match18 Nov 2026
Late, late show earns Al-Faisaly a point
Minute 122, against Al-Wehda, 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Faisaly 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
From twelve yards, and Ayman Fallatah misses
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.