Marked for Danilo Treffiletti
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Monza heard it as anything else.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Monza
Demba Thiam 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Monza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Pessina 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Lecco pay $160.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Demba Thiam
“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 dugout9 Aug 2027
“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.
Market9 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Exequiel Zeballos signs something — a contract at Monza or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
39 goals and a season average of 7.89. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match17 Apr 2027
No mercy from Monza
Carrarese will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Monza were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The match ball belongs to Cyril Ngonge, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
34 appearances at Padova and the goals have stopped going in. Monza lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Monza right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Monza
Cyril Ngonge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
107% of the income goes out in wages at Monza
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Pierpaolo Caruso on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad22 Feb 2027
Cyril Ngonge is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.72 with 28 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Cyril Ngonge takes the match ball home
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match20 Feb 2027
No mercy from Monza
Südtirol will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Monza were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match20 Feb 2027
Monza cannot stop winning
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Feb 2027
Nobody wins at Monza
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Monza
Cyril Ngonge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
17 clean sheets from 26 appearances at Padova. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad5 Oct 2026
Matteo Villani damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.90, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match3 Oct 2026
Monza win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Bari will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match3 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Monza right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Monza
Cyril Ngonge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Danilo Treffiletti is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Monza, 4‑3 the final word against Bari in a contest settled by the finer margins.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Monza training over how hard people work
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Boardroom
Wages swallow 197% of the Monza income
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The dugout
Noel Törnqvist gets it from the manager