Marked for Muhammad Makbashi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Jeel
A 1‑4 beating by Al-Orobah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Jeel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdullah Al-Suwaie, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.24 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Jeel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match6 Feb 2027
Maxwell Quaye scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Al-Batin, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Haythem Ayouni, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 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 1‑3 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Ahmed Al-Nadhri is 34, with 101 appearances behind him, and Al-Jeel will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Al-Jeel will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match6 Feb 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Wehda
3‑6 against Al-Taawoun, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Talal Al-Subaie has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Wehda can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match8 Feb 2027
Al-Wehda sink to position 12
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match8 Feb 2027
Al-Wehda finish in position 12
14 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad8 Feb 2027
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Ian Vera has a hand in both — 7.95
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.95, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jan 2027
Al-Njoom will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Jeel were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Jan 2027
At last: Al-Jeel win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Al-Njoom. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bassem Al-Arini 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.40. 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
It needed Yaseen Al-Zubaidi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Al-Nahda, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Asanele Shibe
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Al-Wehda's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Wehda has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Al-Jeel to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Wehda and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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 1‑2 Talal Al-Subaie left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
0‑5 against Al-Fayha, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nobody at Al-Jeel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Al-Jeel squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Al-Wehda board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market30 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A goal on 95 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I watch every Al-Wehda game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Jeel runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
A promise honoured for Morato
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Wehda told Morato something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Al-Jeel and Ohod take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ibrahim Al-Salem after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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 ratings9 Nov 2026
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.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Shoulla in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Al-Wehda spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match2 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Wehda
Position 13 and 5 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Al-Wehda's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Wehda has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Adulrahman Al-Shammari 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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Wehda, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 2‑5 by Al-Qadisiyah, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Match5 Oct 2026
Al-Wehda sink to position 12
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match3 Oct 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Wehda and Al-Qadisiyah in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Wehda, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Al Ahli, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda have gone to Al-Riyadh with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Farouk Chafaï and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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 1‑3 Talal Al-Subaie left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market17 Aug 2026
Al-Jeel are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al-Wehda will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.