Marked for Omar Al-Enezi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Market13 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Rodrygo Lima 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 targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Njoom have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sami Al-Ahmadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Al-Enezi, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout30 Aug 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Al-Shabab, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Nasser Al-Nemer 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 targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Shoulla have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sami Al-Ahmadi 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Sami Al-Ahmadi
“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.
Match28 Aug 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Mojzel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rashid Al-Shehri
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nasser Al-Nemer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sami Al-Ahmadi 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Mojzel know it.
The dugout19 Jul 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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Nobody at Al-Mojzel 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Mohammed Madkhali arrives from Al-Hilal with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
The dugout19 Jul 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 Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
27 days out for Salman Al-Ghamdi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Mojzel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Mojzel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Mojzel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulbasit Hawsawi 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Omar Al-Enezi
“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 dugout10 May 2027
Amer Khalil has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Mojzel 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 dugout10 May 2027
A promise honoured at Al-Mojzel
Something was said to Sultan Al-Qahtani and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout10 May 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Faisal Al-Dosari has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad3 May 2027
34 days out for Salman Al-Ghamdi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Mojzel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Mojzel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Mojzel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Nasser Al-Nemer 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfredo Troncoso 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Salman Al-Ghamdi out for 55 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Mojzel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Nasser Al-Nemer 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
When it matters, Amer Khalil plays
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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market12 Apr 2027
Al-Mojzel have made Oumare Tounkara available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al-Shoulla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match30 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Mojzel
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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Mojzel close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulbasit Hawsawi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Salman Al-Subaie, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
In brief
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The dugout
Omar Al-Enezi gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Looking ahead
The leaders are next for Al-Mojzel
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
1‑3 to Al-Shoulla, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Abdulbasit Hawsawi 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Match14 Dec 2026
Al-Mojzel at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 10, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Faisal Al-Dosari to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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 Sultan Al-Khaibari is on it.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
Al-Ettifaq next, and one man in the Al-Mojzel dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfredo Troncoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Salim Adams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Mojzel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Youssef Al-Dosari is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Mojzel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Abdulbasit Hawsawi 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Salim Adams 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.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
A test against the best for Al-Mojzel
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Al-Diriyah.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Amer Khalil 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 Amer Khalil is on it.
Market12 Oct 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.