A brace, and Roman Izotov takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Roman Izotov provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Izotov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Danil Pyatibratov 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.
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Arsenal Tula 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal Tula 2 can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Irkutsk.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Izotov signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Tyumen had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Metallurg defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Timur Kim signs something — a contract at Arsenal Tula 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
10 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Arsenal Tula 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Demchenko 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Tula 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal Tula 2 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Alexandr Melikhov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal Tula 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Tula 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Arsenal Tula 2 have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Arsenal Tula lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal Tula will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Edgardo Fariña 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.
Marked 6.64 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Danil Pyatibratov and Arsenal Tula agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Bolshakov, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Aleksey Ragulin to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for Arsenal Tula
The dugoutVictor Okishor has become a man the manager trusts
The offer from Chelyabinsk for Kamil Mullin was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Danil Pyatibratov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
11 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.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alexandr Melikhov 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.84, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Arsenal Tula 2 told Kamil Mullin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Alexey Kolyshev 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 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.
Position 13 and 28 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yegor Sidorov is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Demchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Arsenal Tula 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nikita Karmaev 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Yaroslav Demchenko.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Nikita Karmaev 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.
Three points for Arsenal Tula 2, 1‑0 the final word against Strogino in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ilja Sokolov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Artem Kuzin 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Savely Zimin on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.