Marked for Mohammed Al-Rashid
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Juhani 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Thiago Queiroz 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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Market15 Mar 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Mohammed Al-Rashid leaves Al-Mojzel the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Al-Batin, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Mohammed Al-Harbi 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Al-Mojzel support went home talking about one name.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Thiago Queiroz 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Omar Al-Sultan
34 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Al-Ta'ee will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Mojzel were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Saad Al-Dosari has come up in conversations Al-Mojzel were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
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-Ta'ee in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Omar Al-Mansour 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Waleed 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Saad Al-Nemer has left for Al-Khaleej in a $1.6M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel say no — this time
The offer from Ohod for Youssef 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Thiago Queiroz 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 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sultan Al-Sulami 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel say no — this time
The offer from Al-Ittihad for Saad Al-Nemer 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thiago Queiroz and Al-Mojzel agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mohammed Al-Harbi 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Mojzel has been clear about where Mohammed Al-Rashid stands, which is more than many ever get.