The Arouca Chronicle
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Nobody could get near Lee Hyun-Ju
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Giacomo Toniolo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Arouca
Ignacio de Arruabarrena 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A late step up for Dylan Nandín
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Graduation day at Arouca
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Arouca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lee Hyun-Ju 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Arouca
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Arouca can tell you which week it ends in.
Market16 Aug 2027
Pedro Lopes steps up from the Arouca academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pedro Lopes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market16 Aug 2027
Andre Simoes steps up from the Arouca academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andre Simoes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Market Arouca promote Manuel Borges from within
- Match A bad afternoon for Arouca against Gil Vicente
- The terraces Everybody has an opinion about Ignacio de Arruabarrena