The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vizela 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.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Vizela close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 22 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.
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Angel Bastunov 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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zaidu Sanusi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Académico de Viseu waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vizela is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 The request is on a desk at Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Diamalunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vizela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Evan Diamalunda 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.
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joe Gardner 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Leiria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vizela is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
A brace, and Matías Lacava takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Lacava provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vizela can pretend not to have heard.
Angel Bastunov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Vizela asked and Braga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vizela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Vizela have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vizela 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 Vizela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vizela can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vizela have done the hard part with Benfica, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vizela 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 Vizela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Ismaël Diallo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tondela have kept their man, and Vizela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Feirense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vizela is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Vizela asked and Felgueiras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Académico de Viseu waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vizela is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kasim Aaras has, at Vizela, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaël Diallo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and Vizela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vizela can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vizela have done the hard part with Tondela, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaël Diallo 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bright Godwin has his answer from Vizela; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Vizela have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jorge Marcelino is living that version at Vizela, and it tends to show in the first month.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Vizela now.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Ismaël Diallo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tondela have kept their man, and Vizela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Vizela $3.7M. Koba Koindredi left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Eduardo Nascimento has agreed terms with Santa Clara for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Angel Bastunov 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 Zaidu Sanusi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Vizela are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vizela know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Marco Soares has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nils Eggens is living that version at Vizela, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Sampaio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Zaidu Sanusi was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vizela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vizela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaël Diallo 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Angel Bastunov signs something — a contract at Vizela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vizela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vizela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Gardner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vizela know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ángel García trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Vizela could ask drops and the wages Leandro Ribeiro can ask rise.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Ismaël Diallo 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vizela know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Tomás Silva has written the date down.
48 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Miguel Pires
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vizela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaël Diallo 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vizela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vizela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaël Diallo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Miguel Pires. 2‑1 against Portimonense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vizela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Pires 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.
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vizela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Vizela people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miguel Pires was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and Vizela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vizela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Vizela, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vizela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vizela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Vital Maia 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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Niko Kazija is living that version at Vizela, and it tends to show in the first month.
146 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vizela 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 Vizela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Ismaël Diallo 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vizela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Vizela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaël Diallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Anthony Carter
Boardroom85% of the income goes out in wages at Vizela
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vizela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Angel Bastunov 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.
Miguel Tavares scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Porto B, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Zaidu Sanusi 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 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.
Angel Bastunov 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Vizela can tell you which week it ends in.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Vizela has been clear about where Stefan Obradović stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Marco Soares to a room that had heard them before.
Matías Lacava had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Académico de Viseu were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Feirense is saying, and nobody at Vizela is enjoying the guessing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alfred Caicedo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vizela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vizela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Everything was agreed with Pacos de Ferreira and then the doctor spoke. Vizela have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alfred Caicedo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vizela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Angel Bastunov 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Leandro Ribeiro is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Vizela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaidu Sanusi 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.