It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 5 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
In brief
SquadGermán Ferreyra falls out with a teammate over standards
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miguel Di Pizio and Western Sydney Wanderers agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Ferreyra 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marlee Francois. 1‑0 against Melbourne Victory, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nikola Mileusnic 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Western Sydney Wanderers have had the benefit of it.
The offer from Central Coast Mariners for Jordan Holmes 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.
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.
Add another name to the list: Borneo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jackson Holmes. The answer from Western Sydney Wanderers has not changed — yet.
Nikola Mileusnic 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Western Sydney Wanderers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lawrence Thomas and Western Sydney Wanderers agree another 2 years.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jackson Holmes is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Western Sydney Wanderers will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aydan Hammond will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Western Sydney Wanderers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.