Marked for Lasse Vigen
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Jul 2027
Esbjerg are in real trouble now
Position 10, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
In brief
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Squad
9 new faces, and Esbjerg are still learning each other
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Squad
Fabricio Santos knocks on the manager's door
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Adam Gabriel 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kenan Omerović is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Lasse Vigen has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexandre Di Estefano and Esbjerg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Esbjerg academy
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Market5 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Muamer Brajanac’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Esbjerg
Position 10 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market14 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Bilal Brahimi joins from Viborg in a deal worth $2.0M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
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: Bilal Brahimi from Viborg for $2.0M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fabricio Santos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Fabricio Santos: 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.” Esbjerg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market24 May 2027
Marcus Hansen hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2027
Lasse Vigen 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 May 2027
Esbjerg sink to position 10
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market17 May 2027
“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 Esbjerg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
Muamer Brajanac 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Apr 2027
Esbjerg sink to position 10
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Lasse Vigen 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Gadegaard commits to Esbjerg for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adryan and Esbjerg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Mar 2027
Muamer Brajanac 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Esbjerg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A move Josué Díaz would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Josué Díaz is living that version at Esbjerg, and it tends to show in the first month.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Jan 2027
Esbjerg are in real trouble now
Position 10, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Muamer Brajanac 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esbjerg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
John Kolawole: 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.” Esbjerg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Esbjerg's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esbjerg has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Dec 2026
Esbjerg cannot find the net
8 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Muamer Brajanac 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Esbjerg, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Match12 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Esbjerg against Randers
0‑1 to Randers, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Esbjerg
5 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
The goals have deserted Esbjerg
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Esbjerg can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑1 to FC Midtjylland, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Gustav Grubbe
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Oct 2026
Esbjerg sink to position 10
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Lasse Vigen 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 Esbjerg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muamer Brajanac 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Esbjerg, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Muamer Brajanac. 1‑0 against OB, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Robby McCrorie 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Gabriel 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 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Richmond Gyamfi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Robby McCrorie 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Esbjerg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lee Han-Beom 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for William Lykke
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. William Lykke has come out of that comparison in the side, and Esbjerg have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market7 Sep 2026
Experience through the door at Esbjerg
Fabricio Santos arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Match5 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. FC Midtjylland came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market7 Sep 2026
Esbjerg have let the market know Marcus Hansen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 6. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Benjamin Hvidt spends the afternoon fouling
Fouls conceded: 7. He was booked, he was fortunate not to be booked twice, and the referee had run out of patience long before the end.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lasse Vigen commits to Esbjerg for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Robby McCrorie 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
FC Copenhagen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Esbjerg have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sander Eng Strand, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muamer Brajanac trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.