Marked for Erald Lakti
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Arzignano
4 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Arzignano
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Arzignano can tell you which week it ends in.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Andrea Orlandi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Arzignano have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Matteo Soncin 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matteo Soncin, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Fabio Cariolato asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market18 Jan 2027
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Soncin 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Arzignano
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Arzignano can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Fabio Cariolato
“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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Andrea Boffelli 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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.
Match2 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Lecco defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market4 Jan 2027
Arzignano have made Edoardo Bernardi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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 Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Andrea Boffelli 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 Dec 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcus Bettinelli 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
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
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 7.29 for the rest of it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Nov 2026
Arzignano cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad30 Nov 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 Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Soncin 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ikson. 2‑1 against Pergolettese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad30 Nov 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
One of those days for Ikson
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 116% of everything Arzignano earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Andrea Boffelli 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcus Bettinelli 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
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
The small margins put Arzignano out
Out, 1‑3 to Lazio, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Mirco Moretti, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69
A mark of 7.69 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mattia Damiani 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.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Matteo Soncin 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
Steady
Match17 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Arzignano do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Filippo Manfrin is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Oct 2026
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Trento had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Arzignano did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Arzignano do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Andrea Boffelli 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcus Bettinelli 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 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Matteo Soncin
“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
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 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 Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Arzignano do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Soncin 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
153% of the income goes out in wages at Arzignano
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolò Bianchi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
Arzignano march on in the cup
Casertana are out and Arzignano go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match23 Sep 2026
Arzignano win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 98th minute. Casertana will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Erald Lakti 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Erald Lakti 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Nicola Nanni
7.79, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Arzignano had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Arzignano
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Arzignano are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Filippo Manfrin is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad21 Sep 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 Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Filippo Manfrin
“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
Squad14 Sep 2026
Marcus Bettinelli 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Matteo Soncin 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 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 Arzignano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Arzignano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Damiani 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.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolò Bianchi, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Arzignano know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 6.91. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrea Boffelli 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Fabio Cariolato
“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 Aug 2026
Vicenza left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Isaac Allan and Arzignano agree another 4 years.
Market31 Aug 2026
Isaac Allan is 20, and Arzignano have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad31 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Arzignano are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.