The Gzira United Courier
Match8 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.
Market10 Jan 2028
Kevin Riquelme puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Alex Li: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Johan Bonilla runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 Jan 2028
Nobody wins at Gzira United
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Alex Li wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gzira United know it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
When it matters, Staša Bastić plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Match8 Jan 2028
Gzira United draw a blank against Valletta
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Valletta defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
In brief
- Market James Ellul leaves for nothing
- Player ratings Chrisnovic N'sa spends the afternoon fouling