Marked for Daniel Simoes
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Dec 2035
Manuel Marques has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Braga B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match29 Dec 2035
No end in sight to Braga B's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Braga B has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 Dec 2035
Yuri Rocchetti 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.
Match29 Dec 2035
Braga B cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings31 Dec 2035
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces31 Dec 2035
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
The dugout31 Dec 2035
The manager makes an example of Kevin Chacón
“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.
Match29 Dec 2035
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Torreense came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout31 Dec 2035
Somebody else is better right now than Daniel Simoes
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Dec 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Braga B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Braga B
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuri Rocchetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Words exchanged at Braga B
Jaheim Headley 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.
Match15 Dec 2035
A bad afternoon for Braga B against AVS
0‑1 to AVS, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
The manager makes an example of Andre Carvalho
“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.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandre Machado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings17 Dec 2035
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market17 Dec 2035
The clock does Ricard Sánchez’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Braga B could ask drops and the wages Ricard Sánchez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Nov 2035
Braga B throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Feirense the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Braga B will enjoy reviewing.
Squad12 Nov 2035
José Bica pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad12 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Braga B
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuri Rocchetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings12 Nov 2035
Jaheim Headley did the work nobody counts — 7.14
13 combined actions and 7.14. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The terraces12 Nov 2035
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andre Carvalho 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.
Player ratings12 Nov 2035
Marked 8.30 — 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.
Player ratings12 Nov 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2035
A falling-out at Braga B
Kevin Chacón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Oct 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Braga B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Oct 2035
A row about effort at Braga B
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuri Rocchetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Oct 2035
Tondela left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
Nick Shinton gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad22 Oct 2035
At 21 years old, Ricardo Nascimento became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Player ratings22 Oct 2035
Successful dribbles: 10. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
No place in the plan for Kevin Chacón
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market22 Oct 2035
The clock does Ricard Sánchez’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Braga B could ask drops and the wages Ricard Sánchez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Oct 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henrique Goncalves will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Braga B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Yuri Rocchetti 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.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Everybody at Braga B 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.
Player ratings8 Oct 2035
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Oct 2035
“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.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Daniel Simoes makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Oct 2035
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Braga B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match6 Oct 2035
Braga B and Mafra cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Mafra came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market8 Oct 2035
The name of Andre Carvalho keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Braga B say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Sep 2035
No end in sight to Braga B's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Braga B has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 Sep 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Braga B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Nick Shinton makes it 50 clean sheets
50 shut-outs in 219 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Machado, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Braga B
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Simoes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 Sep 2035
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sporting CP B came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market17 Sep 2035
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jaheim Headley may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Sep 2035
The name of Manuel Marques keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Braga B say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout13 Aug 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Braga B may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 Aug 2035
Add another name to the list: Torreense have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Leonardo Lelo. The answer from Braga B has not changed — yet.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Age has not caught Leonardo Lelo yet — 8.27
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market13 Aug 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Braga B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Aug 2035
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Braga B will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Match11 Aug 2035
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Braga B have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Every debut is a small story about the future: Daniel Simoes, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.