Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
$2.8M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Police Union have lost him in all but the paperwork.
He is going to Zamalek, the club has $2.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“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 The request is on a desk at Police Union, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The deal with Masr El Makasa is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Police Union and Zamalek have settled on $580.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Abdallah Zizo 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.
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 Greisha is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Raafat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Ambitious players need ambitious projects. Draw your own conclusions.” Charles Agbawodikeizu’s representative said it with a smile, and made sure everyone wrote it down.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Police Union could ask drops and the wages Ahmed Ayman can ask rise.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Police Union scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Police Union they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
1 for Omar Kamel, marked 7.66, 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Military Production waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Police Union is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Police Union can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Military Production are out and Police Union go through, 4‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
1‑5 to Zamalek, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Police Union have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Police Union and Zamalek in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Abdallah Zizo 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.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Police Union lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
$670.0K settles it between the clubs for Ahmed Eid
Aswan have accepted the money. What Police Union do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Police Union they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah Zizo 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.
“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; Police Union are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Police Union lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Police Union can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Aswan is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid 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.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah Zizo 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.
Police Union and Aswan have settled on $750.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Abdallah Zizo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
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 Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
BoardroomThe Police Union production line keeps running