Marked for Minkyu Chea
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 May 2029
Words exchanged at Vizela
Sérgio Conceição 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Dalbert 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
Diego Esser gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout14 May 2029
Israel Alba knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Israel Alba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad14 May 2029
A wage question at Vizela
Bright Godwin has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout14 May 2029
A door opens for Ítalo
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 May 2028
The season ends: position 18 for Vizela
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 30 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad1 May 2028
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Squad1 May 2028
A row about effort at Vizela
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dalbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 May 2028
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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 May 2028
Israel Alba gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout1 May 2028
A promise honoured for Iván Jaime
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Vizela told Iván Jaime something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Apr 2028
Every point is an argument now for Vizela
Position 18 and 30 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market24 Apr 2028
“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 dugout24 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vizela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Vizela
Mateo Tanlongo 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Vizela
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Jaime was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Apr 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Anthony Carter’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Vizela.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.92, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bautista Arricau, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Iván Jaime
7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Vizela had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
Clydel Kigongo damages knee ligaments — 47 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match22 Jan 2028
7 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Ajax paid $6.8M and ADO Den Haag took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
Jonas Jensen-Abbew has gone, the accounts have $6.8M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
The offer went to Ajax this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ADO Den Haag may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Harrison Reed 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.