Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Criciúma they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Felipe Jonatan 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 Oluwasegun Otusanya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
2 appearances, 2 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Criciúma will have this month.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutAndrés Romero is still being punished for one mistake
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rubén Ramos, and the manager let it.
Loan watch14 May 2029
Lautaro Vera is tired of being somebody else's player
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Criciúma where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Dinamo Tbilisi until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
The dugout14 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Vitor Rodrigues left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Scacchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Criciúma they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Felipe Jonatan 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Criciúma has been clear about where Eduardo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Felipe Jonatan 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Criciúma, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Criciúma training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Scacchi 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Criciúma lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Criciúma can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Criciúma they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Criciúma heard it as anything else.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Felipe Jonatan 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 Oluwasegun Otusanya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Criciúma, another week without a signature from Diego Gonçalves.
This is not rotation. Barnes Osei has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Dinamo Tbilisi is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Dinamo Tbilisi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz 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; Dinamo Tbilisi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Something was said to Karlo Špeljak and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Algassime Bah is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Tbilisi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Dinamo Tbilisi would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The mood at Criciúma has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Criciúma can pretend not to have heard.
The deal that would have taken Eduardo to Fortaleza has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Criciúma with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Criciúma have gone to Mirassol with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Athletic Club have kept their man, and Criciúma go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oluwasegun Otusanya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Sumgayit have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lautaro Vera. The answer from Criciúma has not changed — yet.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcinho signs something — a contract at Criciúma or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutRubén Ramos knocks on the manager’s door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $389.4K — a club that wants Danielzinho enough to be asked twice.
The fee is $54.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Santos drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Santa Cruz de Natal wanted more than $260.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Sport Recife pay $280.0K, 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Criciúma training over how hard people work
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Criciúma they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Felipe Jonatan 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 Marcinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jhonata Robert trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erick Pulga’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Criciúma needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The mood at Criciúma has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Criciúma can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Criciúma, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Criciúma they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Criciúma this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Criciúma training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcinho 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Criciúma will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Jequié have accepted the money. What Criciúma do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Criciúma, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Santa Cruz de Natal 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.
Criciúma have gone to América de Natal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Felipe Jonatan 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Criciúma training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcinho 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Criciúma is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Criciúma this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sousa have kept their man, and Criciúma go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Jhonata Robert is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jhonata Robert trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Altos had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Felipe Jonatan 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Criciúma know which stage they are at.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Platense lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Nico López 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Platense, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at Platense 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Facundo Romero after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Bruno Sepúlveda 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Platense training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nico López 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.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Platense, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Talleres spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Fabricio Bedmar has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Clever Ferreira 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.