Marked for Maouri Simon
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jan 2028
Arema sink to position 17
26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market31 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Jayus Hariyono
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jayus Hariyono will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arema the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market31 Jan 2028
Arema get their man
The chase for Maouri Simon ended with $77.0K changing hands and Bali United out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Joel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arema this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces31 Jan 2028
Arema spend $77.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $77.0K for Maouri Simon, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bhayangkara Presisi have kept their man, and Arema go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Arema
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wu Qipeng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A loan move for Giovani Numberi is in the works
Arema have made the call to Madura United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
Belts tighten at Arema
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Brandon Wilson damages knee ligaments — 116 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bali United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Jort van der Sande 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Madura United have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Jan 2028
Business is business: Maouri Simon goes
Arema paid $77.0K and Bali United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market31 Jan 2028
The name of Adam Przybek has come up in conversations Bali United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Union Magdalena: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Thijmen Goppel out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bali United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dimas Kurniawan
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bali United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 Jan 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Bali United will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maluku Utara United have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Semen Padang have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kadek Arel. The answer from Bali United has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
A loan move for Cyrus Margono is in the works
Bali United have made the call to Persija. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Thijmen Goppel out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bali United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Dec 2027
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market27 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Jort van der Sande and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Bali United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mirza Mustafić 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 87% of the Bali United income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Dec 2027
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Bali United had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
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 Boris Kopitović is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
56 days out for Thijmen Goppel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bali United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Dimas Kurniawan damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Jort van der Sande 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 Dec 2027
Mirza Mustafić 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thijmen Goppel signs something — a contract at Bali United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Dimas Kurniawan damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Jort van der Sande 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mirza Mustafić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market15 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thijmen Goppel signs something — a contract at Bali United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Agus Mahendra gets picked when it counts
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 Agus Mahendra is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Nov 2027
94 days out for Thijmen Goppel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bali United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dimas Kurniawan
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bali United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Nov 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 Bali United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bali United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Thijmen Goppel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bali United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Diego Campos 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Bali United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexvan Djin
“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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Thijmen Goppel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bali United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Diego Campos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bali United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Boris Kopitović may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Jens Raven wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Bali United will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Next up at home: Persita, who go into it in position 10. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bali United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Jort van der Sande 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Bali United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Mirza Mustafić
“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 dugout20 Sep 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Alexvan Djin
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bali United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $64.5K of what Bali United paid for Novri Setiawan is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ricky Fajrin: 12 seasons and counting
284 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Bali United know exactly what they have.
Market6 Sep 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 Bali United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Bali United close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bali United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Mirza Mustafić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages eat 91% of everything Bali United earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.