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.
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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Baniyas kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Al Ahli will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Omar Suqrat takes the afternoon — 8.57
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Omar Suqrat provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Ahli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He is 18 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.
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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Rashid Nader 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
0‑2 to Al Dhafra, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Giménez 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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Daniel Pedrozo's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Al Fujairah will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al Ahli were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Rashid Nader was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
10 goals in one match, Rashid Nader on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al Ahli and Al Fujairah.
Marked 9.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Al Fujairah were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Walid Rashid has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Al Ahli can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahmoud Ismail was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout26 Oct 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Hassan Al Shamsi to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Faisal Al Hammadi's mistake
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Rashid Nader 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 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud Ismail 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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.
Rashid Nader 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.
Al Ain left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Giménez 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.
Marked 6.97 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Rashid Nader was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al Ahli and Dibba in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
A performance of 9.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Liam Giménez 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Hassan Al Shamsi, on a 5‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A brace, and Sultan Nader takes the afternoon — 9.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sultan Nader provided it, and the 9.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 23 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.
Al Wahda held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Al Ahli answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Hassan Al Shamsi on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hamdan Juma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutLiam Giménez knocks on the manager’s door
Player ratingsFaisal Yaqoob beats them one at a time
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sultan Nader. 3‑1 against Emirates Club, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Liam Giménez 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Hassan Al Shamsi on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Al Ahli have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Amer Hussain
Nasser Yaqoob has gone, the accounts have $1.1M 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.
Everything agreed with Trabzonspor, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympiacos is saying, and nobody at Al Ahli is enjoying the guessing.
Baniyas paid $1.1M and Al Ahli took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
$130.0K was the most the club would pay and Al Nasr were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Giménez 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 hardest part of developing a footballer is admitting he needs to be somewhere else for a while. Khalfan Al Suwaidi leaves on loan to get the football he was not going to get here, which is the point of the exercise and not an admission of anything.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Rashid Nader
The deal with Olympiacos 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.
Al Ahli 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.
Rashid Nader 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al Ahli will quote 19 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahmoud Ismail, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Giménez 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 phone has started ringing about Nasser Yaqoob again, and this time the name on the line is Sharjah. Al Ahli are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Daniel Pedrozo was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.7M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Al Ahli will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The offer went to Al-Qadisiyah 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.
Al Ahli have gone to Al Wasl with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Rashid Nader 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Giménez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nasser Al Hammadi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al Ahli has been clear about where Mahmoud Nader stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al Ahli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.