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.
Al-Diriyah 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Al-Mojzel could ask drops and the wages Rashid Al-Sultan can ask rise.
105 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Thari Saeed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Clement Zubah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.83. 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.
A point taken on 97 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 3‑3 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Al-Mojzel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Ahli, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Mojzel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
85 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 38 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match29 Dec 2029
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Mojzel and Al-Hazem in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Thari Saeed 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ahmed Al-Sulami after 0‑6, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutMark Robinson knocks on the manager’s door
36 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
6 goals in one match, Thari Saeed on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Mojzel and Al-Saudi Al-Watani.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 1 saves does not settle it either way.