Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al-Fayha waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Al-Mojzel and Al-Nahda have settled on $17.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Nassr is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Mojzel have done the hard part with Al-Khaleej, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The approach has been made to Stars Jeunes Talents and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Ta'ee said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Yasser Al-Sheikh had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Nahda is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Al-Mojzel
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Add another name to the list: Al-Saudi Al-Watani have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Al-Hassan. The answer from Al-Mojzel has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al-Nahda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Nassr keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
$8.0K on the table at Al-Saudi Al-Watani. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Wehda 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 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.
Yasser Al-Sheikh 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.
“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.
The mood at Al-Mojzel has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
Al-Mojzel and Al-Nassr have settled on $940.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Al-Hassan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Mojzel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Al-Ettifaq is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Khaleej have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Mojzel 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Ahli is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
$480.0K on the table at Al-Fateh. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lerato Ntamane 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.
Amin Abu Khalifa 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Mojzel have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Al-Ahli; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Ali Al-Ghamdi has gone, the accounts have $72.0K 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.
Al-Mojzel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Nassr, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Al-Ta'ee paid $72.0K and Al-Mojzel took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
$630.0K on the table at Al-Ahli. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Khaleej have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lerato Ntamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 mood at Al-Mojzel has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Saeed Al-Salem is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Everybody at Al-Mojzel saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thamsanqa Modiba 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 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.
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
“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.
This is not rotation. Ibrahim Al-Dosari has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adel Khadhari 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.
Amin Abu Khalifa 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 watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Diriyah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The dugoutLerato Ntamane asks for a word with the manager
Adel Khadhari 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.
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Diriyah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Faqih Maulana 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. Al-Mojzel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Al-Mojzel will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Rabie Hawsawi are not good
“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.
Adel Khadhari 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 Thamsanqa Modiba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Mojzel, and 3 appearances in 39 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Al-Shehri has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Diriyah heard it as anything else.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Berat Djimsiti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shun Fukumoto 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 words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
This is not rotation. Ibrahim Al-Dosari has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lerato Ntamane 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
“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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Mojzel have done the hard part with Al-Wehda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$280.0K on the table at Al-Khaleej. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Ta'ee said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lerato Ntamane 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lerato Ntamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
At 20 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.
Thamsanqa Modiba 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.
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Diriyah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Waleed Al-Juhani left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Nobody at Al-Mojzel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
27 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.
“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.
“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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Mojzel can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
It is the quietest kind of dressing-room problem and the one that lasts longest, because nobody has done anything anyone can be disciplined for. 2 players sit outside all 3 groups entirely, which is the detail that tends to matter.
“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-Diriyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Al-Diriyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berat Djimsiti 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.
Anas Al-Ahmadi 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.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
Nobody at Al-Diriyah 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ahmed Al-Hassan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Diriyah needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saeed Al-Shammari and Al-Mojzel agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thamsanqa Modiba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yasser Al-Sheikh 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.
“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-Diriyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Al-Diriyah know now that the thought has arrived.
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-Diriyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 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.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Mojzel 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Al-Mojzel close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 15 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.
Al-Mojzel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Shoulla, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The offer went to Al-Fateh 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lerato Ntamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Thamsanqa Modiba 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Al-Diriyah for Nasser Al-Rashid 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.
Al-Mojzel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Shoulla, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bader Fallatah has just signed for Al-Mojzel, and for once the answer mattered.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fahad Al-Qahtani and Al-Mojzel agree another 2 years.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Diriyah have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Diriyah will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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-Diriyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Al-Khaleej is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
At 20 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.
Al-Ahli paid $150.0K and Al-Diriyah took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Idrissa Gueye 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Diriyah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Diriyah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Al-Ahli for Georges-Kévin Nkoudou 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.
Everything agreed with Al-Mojzel, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Facundo Mera has, at Al-Diriyah, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Mojzel have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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.
$300.0K on the table at Al-Hazem. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
At 20 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.
Talal Al-Juhani 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.
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.
Yasser Al-Sheikh 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Waleed Al-Shammari signs something — a contract at Al-Mojzel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yasser Al-Juhani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutAli Al-Ghamdi knocks on the manager's door
SquadQuestions about Omar Al-Sulami on the training pitch
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ahmed Al-Hassan is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
“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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Ta'ee is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
The deal with Al-Hilal is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ahmed Al-Hassan is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sami Al-Sheikh did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Half the programme played, position 10, 16 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Waleed Al-Juhani after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Sultan Al-Ghamdi is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amin Abu Khalifa and Al-Mojzel agree another 3 years.
Talal Al-Juhani 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Waleed Al-Shammari has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Al-Mojzel will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Waleed Al-Shammari did not need any: 7.93, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nasser Al-Rashid has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Waleed Al-Juhani could afford to be generous.
Ali Al-Ghamdi wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Ali Al-Ghamdi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Al-Nahda went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ali Al-Ghamdi, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Talal Al-Juhani 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahim Al-Dosari and Al-Mojzel agree another 1 years.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.