Marked for Ignacio Brea
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Dec 2028
Norbert Mazuch: 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.” Ufa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Ufa
Danil Akhatov 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
KAMAZ take the points off Ufa
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zalimkhan Yusupov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 8.51 — 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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“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 Ufa know it.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market18 Dec 2028
The name of Migran Ageyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ufa say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 9.14 — 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.
Match14 Oct 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Danila Khotulev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ufa.
Squad16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Pablo Ceppelini
“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 ratings16 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“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 Ufa know it.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Ufa, and it is a cruel one.
Squad16 Oct 2028
David Sangaré asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Aug 2028
A bad afternoon for Ufa against Chaika
0‑2 to Chaika, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Migran Ageyan, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“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 Ufa know it.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
The one thing Migran Ageyan could not do
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Yenisey have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexey Chernov. The answer from Ufa has not changed — yet.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Ufa
Zalimkhan Yusupov 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 ratings31 Jul 2028
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 ratings31 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.76, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
Ufa find a way past Rotor
Rotor made Ufa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad31 Jul 2028
At 20 years old, Ignacio Brea became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
$5.2M from Junior for Dilan Ortíz. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 Ufa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Ufa
Zalimkhan Yusupov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“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 Ufa know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Ufa
Dilan Ortíz 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“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.
Market24 Apr 2028
Ignacio Brea is 20, and Ufa have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.