Monarca - News | Open Football Simulator

343 Edition

21 Feb 2033

From our football correspondent Steady

Squad21 Feb 2033

Soufiane Rahimi damages knee ligaments — 99 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad21 Feb 2033

A falling-out at Grêmio

Gustavo Marques and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout21 Feb 2033

No hiding place for Matheus Donelli

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matheus Donelli, and the manager let it.

Squad21 Feb 2033

Words at Grêmio training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marlon 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.

Squad21 Feb 2033

Monarca signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Monarca commits to Grêmio for another 5 years.

The dugout21 Feb 2033

Nathan Fernandes knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grêmio, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout21 Feb 2033

Soufiane Rahimi gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Soufiane Rahimi is on it.

Market21 Feb 2033

The Erick Noriega story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Erick Noriega signs something — a contract at Grêmio or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market21 Feb 2033

Danillo Gabriel placed on the list

Grêmio have made Danillo Gabriel available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

The dugout The manager plants his flag on Leonel Pérez
Match A season winding down at Grêmio

317 Edition

23 Aug 2032

From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad23 Aug 2032

Luiz Henrique is carrying Grêmio

23 goals and a season average of 7.60. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings23 Aug 2032

Luiz Henrique scores twice — 9.08

Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

The dugout23 Aug 2032

Monarca says Grêmio went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings23 Aug 2032

Francis Amuzu was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market23 Aug 2032

Felipe Longo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Grêmio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad23 Aug 2032

A row about effort at Grêmio

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luiz Henrique was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match21 Aug 2032

Still nobody has beaten Grêmio

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad23 Aug 2032

Tempers go at Grêmio

Leonel Pérez 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.

Match21 Aug 2032

Grêmio find a way past Sport Recife

Sport Recife made Grêmio work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

Match Halfway: Grêmio sit in position 6
The dugout Erick Noriega gets picked when it counts
The dugout Ronald gets it from the manager

313 Edition

26 Jul 2032

From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings26 Jul 2032

Leonel Pérez goes up and wins it — 7.69

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.69 for the rest of it.

Boardroom26 Jul 2032

Window shuts: 3 in, 9 out at Grêmio

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Player ratings26 Jul 2032

Francis Amuzu runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market26 Jul 2032

Felipe Longo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Grêmio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad26 Jul 2032

Words at Grêmio training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luiz Henrique 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.

Squad26 Jul 2032

Words exchanged at Grêmio

Gustavo Marques 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.

Squad26 Jul 2032

Monarca signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Monarca commits to Grêmio for another 5 years.

The dugout26 Jul 2032

Mathías Villasanti 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.

The dugout26 Jul 2032

Erick Noriega has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Grêmio will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

Market Oeste are about to pick up the phone
Match Grêmio share the spoils with Botafogo
Market The Luiz Henrique talk will not go away

281 Edition

15 Dec 2031

From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad15 Dec 2031

Luiz Henrique is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.71 with 29 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market15 Dec 2031

Grêmio turn down Flamengo for Luiz Henrique

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match13 Dec 2031

Grêmio run riot against Mirassol

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad15 Dec 2031

The season belongs to Luiz Henrique

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 Grêmio have had the benefit of it.

The dugout15 Dec 2031

Monarca keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grêmio may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings15 Dec 2031

Vintage Jovane Cabral — 8.06

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.06, and nobody on the pitch better.

Market15 Dec 2031

Luciano Jr asks to leave Grêmio

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market15 Dec 2031

Business is business: Fábio Matheus goes

Vasco da Gama paid $1.5M and Grêmio took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Boardroom15 Dec 2031

Georgemy signs for Ceará while still at Grêmio

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Georgemy has agreed terms with Ceará for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

In brief

Market As if he never left: Tchê Tchê returns
Squad Words at Grêmio training over how hard people work
Transfer targets No deal for Fabrício Bruno at that price

261 Edition

28 Jul 2031

From our football correspondent Crisis

Match26 Jul 2031

Nowhere to hide for Grêmio

0‑4 against Botafogo, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Match26 Jul 2031

The wait goes on for Grêmio

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market28 Jul 2031

Georgemy 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 Grêmio, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings28 Jul 2031

Nathan Fernandes was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad28 Jul 2031

Luiz Henrique in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grêmio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout28 Jul 2031

Gabriel Queiroz keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grêmio may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad28 Jul 2031

Words at Grêmio training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Soufiane Rahimi 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.

Squad28 Jul 2031

Roni gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Roni has just signed for Grêmio, and for once the answer mattered.

The dugout28 Jul 2031

Matheus Donelli 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.

In brief

Squad Monarca stays put
Boardroom Doors closed at Grêmio
The dugout The view from the dugout