Marked for Raivis Laizans
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Metta/LU training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Scremin 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Metta/LU
Raivis Laizans and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yusif Yakubu, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Metta/LU and Skonto have settled on $6.0K. 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Metta/LU
Mahamud Abdul Karimu 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$8.0K was the most the club would pay and Daugavpils 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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Afonso Leite from Liepaja for $160.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Metta/LU asked and Daugavpils said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Metta/LU
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Scremin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market24 Aug 2026
The shape has not worked since the summer and the reason was never a mystery. Afonso Leite comes in from Liepaja to be the missing piece, which is a flattering description and a heavy one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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
No place for Afonso Leite in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Metta/LU are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
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Squad
Metta/LU are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
Sadiq Saleh has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
Raivis Laizans asks for a word with the manager