Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monaco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Patryk Prajsnar has just signed for Monaco, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
In brief
SquadWords at Monaco training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christian Mawissa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Monaco hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Stanis Idumbo 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 Apr 2037
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pape Cabral 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
353 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Monaco hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Player ratings6 Apr 2037
A first appearance Jannik Wind will want to forget — 5.55
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.55, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Monaco have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marc Deschamps will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
8.67. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mehdi Tlili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Monaco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings16 Mar 2037
A first appearance Jean Vincent will want to forget — 5.67
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.67, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings17 Mar 2036
A brace, and Duje Matić takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Duje Matić provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Monaco, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Monaco and OGC Nice, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.29 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Monaco heard it as anything 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 Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monaco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lucas Michal has agreed terms with Toulouse FC for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.38 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Monaco heard it as anything else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Safouane Benzahra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.12 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mehdi Tlili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Ansu Fati 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.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.35 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Monaco, and it is not being withdrawn.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Stade Lavallois moved on, Nacim Dendani reports back to Monaco, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Ansu Fati 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.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
91 minutes played. Ekene Chukwuani found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Chamois Niortais went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 Monaco, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Safouane Benzahra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal that would have taken Jordan Teze to Nimes has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Monaco with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Monaco have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Monaco hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monaco 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 Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lamine Camara 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.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.38 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ekene Chukwuani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad21 Jan 2036
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from FC Lorient for Ilies Belmokhtar 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marc Deschamps will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Jan 2036
Ansu Fati 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Stade Brestois for Stanis Idumbo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
6 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monaco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Stanis Idumbo will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Monaco escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 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 Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.30 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
5 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.
Denis Zakaria 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.
In brief
SquadAnsu Fati falls out with a teammate over standards
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emanuele Valeri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.16 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
4 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.
Squad24 Dec 2035
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
6 goals and a season average of 7.55 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings24 Dec 2035
Stanis Idumbo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.52. 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.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.96 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Monaco, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ekene Chukwuani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lamine Camara 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.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monaco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
25 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.
Stanis Idumbo 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ekene Chukwuani has agreed terms with RC Strasbourg for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.71 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
463 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordan Teze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Monaco heard it as anything 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 Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Emanuele Valeri has agreed terms with OGC Nice for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.40 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monaco they have already started talking about him 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 Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad26 Nov 2035
Lamine Camara 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.
Player ratings26 Nov 2035
Stanis Idumbo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.14. 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.
Marked 7.16 on 40 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ekene Chukwuani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Monaco are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Ansu Fati 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.
145 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Monaco lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Monaco can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Safouane Benzahra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monaco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monaco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2035
Words at Monaco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ansu Fati 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Monaco and Olympique de Marseille in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.