Marked for Luca Chierico
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cesare Vignali has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Nov 2029
Only the photograph left for Jacopo Falchi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jacopo Falchi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arezzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“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 Arezzo know it.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Coppolaro, and the manager let it.
Match3 Nov 2029
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market22 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Gianluca Di Chiara 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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.99 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Mattia Sangalli
“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
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market8 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arezzo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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 Oct 2029
“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 ratings8 Oct 2029
Marked 8.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market8 Oct 2029
He is 20, and nobody at Arezzo signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Shots: 12, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match6 Oct 2029
It needed Emiliano Pattarello to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Ravenna, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arezzo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom1 Oct 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Arezzo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Revaz Janelidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match29 Sep 2029
Forli made Arezzo work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Marked 9.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Sep 2029
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arezzo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match15 Sep 2029
4 matches without a win for Arezzo
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Arezzo are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Sep 2029
A bad afternoon for Arezzo against Ternana
3‑4 to Ternana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom17 Sep 2029
Arezzo counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Arezzo now.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Marked 8.48 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Sep 2029
$9.1M from Como for Alessandro Arena. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Sep 2029
A bad afternoon for Arezzo against Bra
1‑2 to Bra, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“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 ratings3 Sep 2029
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
The one thing Luca Chierico could not do
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad3 Sep 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market3 Sep 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luca Chierico signs something — a contract at Arezzo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Market6 Aug 2029
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giacomo Venturi, and the manager let it.
Market6 Aug 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luca Chierico signs something — a contract at Arezzo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Giacomo Venturi is 37, with 381 appearances behind him, and Arezzo will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Matteo Cortesi: 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.” Arezzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Olmedo, and the manager let it.
Market18 Jun 2029
The name of Luca Chierico keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arezzo say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad18 Jun 2029
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Arezzo has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
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Market
Arezzo shop where it costs nothing
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Market
The clock does Nahuel Olmedo’s negotiating for him
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Boardroom
Arezzo keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
33 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
Pianese left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Luca Chierico
9 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market16 Apr 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arezzo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Mar 2029
64 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Mar 2029
A 3‑1 win over Livorno, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Luca Chierico is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.35 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Coppolaro, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market19 Mar 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arezzo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Arena and Arezzo agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The numbers do not look good at Arezzo
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match3 Mar 2029
6 unbeaten for Arezzo
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Arezzo did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.83, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Mar 2029
A season average of 7.32 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Arezzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Feb 2029
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Marked 8.54 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Marked 8.40 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Luca Chierico
7 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Arezzo
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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Feb 2029
The medical room confirms 96 days on the sidelines for Alessandro Arena, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Giacomo Venturi
“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.
Match17 Feb 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Pineto leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Match3 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The numbers do not look good at Arezzo
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Bielkiewicz and Arezzo agree another 2 years.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
108% of the income goes out in wages at Arezzo
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 Feb 2029
Gabriel Guri lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market15 Jan 2029
Arezzo say no — this time
The offer from Modena for Alessandro Capello was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market15 Jan 2029
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Still no name above the door at Arezzo
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“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.
Match13 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Luca Chierico is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
4.72 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Ciro Palmieri clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A one-man rearguard from Gabriel Guri
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market8 Jan 2029
Arezzo say no — this time
The offer from Hellas Verona for Camillo Tavernelli was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Luca Chierico, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Ternana left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Mauro Coppolaro
“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
Crisis
Market1 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Arena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arezzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Dec 2028
Luca Chierico scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Gubbio, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
Wages eat 110% of everything Arezzo 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Alessandro Arena
5 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arezzo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Dec 2028
61 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“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.
Match23 Dec 2028
Three points for Arezzo, 1‑0 the final word against Bra in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Dec 2028
Every point is an argument now for Arezzo
Position 16 and 15 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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Giacomo Venturi
“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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match16 Dec 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Pianese leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Alessandro Renzi 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A season average of 7.22 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
The one thing Mario Ravasio could not do
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Arezzo
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Arezzo is running low.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
Ciro Palmieri has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Arezzo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Dec 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Arena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arezzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gianluca Di Chiara and Arezzo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Alessandro Renzi 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.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
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.
Loan watch4 Dec 2028
“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 Arezzo, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Marked 8.84 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Nov 2028
11 matches without a win for Arezzo
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Arezzo are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match25 Nov 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“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 ratings27 Nov 2028
Shots: 18, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad27 Nov 2028
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Nov 2028
The small margins put Arezzo out
Out, 0‑1 to Modena, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match4 Nov 2028
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A one-man rearguard from Gabriel Guri
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market6 Nov 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Arezzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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 ratings6 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
107% of the income goes out in wages at Arezzo
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Arezzo
6 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.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market30 Oct 2028
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Arezzo needed to.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Giacomo Venturi 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
A one-man rearguard from Gabriel Guri
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match21 Oct 2028
5 matches without a win for Arezzo
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Arezzo are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Giacomo Venturi 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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Guri, and the manager let it.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Oct 2028
Honours even between Arezzo and Pineto
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market23 Oct 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alessandro Renzi signs something — a contract at Arezzo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Oct 2028
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match14 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad16 Oct 2028
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Coppolaro, and the manager let it.
Match14 Oct 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Campobasso leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Oct 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Arena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arezzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giacomo Venturi and Arezzo agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Oct 2028
A bad afternoon for Arezzo against Carpi
2‑4 to Carpi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Oct 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gabriel Guri knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad9 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Mario Ravasio
“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.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Marked 8.40 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
103% of the income goes out in wages at Arezzo
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Oct 2028
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giacomo Venturi and Arezzo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Loan watch2 Oct 2028
“I watch every Arezzo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Union Brescia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“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 ratings2 Oct 2028
Marked 8.65 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Gabriel Guri 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 Arezzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Arena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Arezzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Manuel De Marco: 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.” Arezzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market11 Sep 2028
The deal that would have taken Marco Chiosa to Cittadella has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Arezzo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match9 Sep 2028
Beaten 3‑5, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.78 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Aug 2028
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Giacomo Venturi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match26 Aug 2028
Arezzo make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Arezzo have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Market28 Aug 2028
Shaka Mawuli Eklu has left for Modena in a $640.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 9.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match26 Aug 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alessandro Arena. 2‑1 against Bra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Hernâni 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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Hernâni shuts the door
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Marked 9.75 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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.
Match15 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Marco Chiosa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Arezzo.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Apr 2028
52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Arezzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Arezzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Hernâni 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 Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 9.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 9.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Apr 2028
No hiding place for Hernâni
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hernâni, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Alessandro Arena
6 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market10 Apr 2028
Angelo Testa is 20, and Arezzo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market7 Feb 2028
Como come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Arezzo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arezzo can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Mario Ravasio again, and this time the name on the line is Albirex Niigata. Arezzo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Bielkiewicz and Arezzo agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Hernâni 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.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arezzo can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market24 Jan 2028
Fabio Tito has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Arezzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Hernâni 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.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Marked 8.96 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad24 Jan 2028
No hiding place for Hernâni
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hernâni, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Marked 8.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
99% of the income goes out in wages at Arezzo
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Hernâni 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 Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolò Gigli, and the manager let it.
Match15 Jan 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Hernâni 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Camillo Tavernelli signs something — a contract at Arezzo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Arezzo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 Jan 2028
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arezzo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Arezzo
Hernâni 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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
A performance of 9.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match1 Jan 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Ravasio. 3‑2 against Gubbio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market3 Jan 2028
The phone has started ringing about Fabio Tito again, and this time the name on the line is Padova. Arezzo are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Hernâni shuts the door
Defensive actions: 32, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match13 Dec 2027
Every point is an argument now for Arezzo
Position 16 and 15 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.
Market13 Dec 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 Arezzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Hernâni 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 Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Marked 7.84 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Arezzo had the best player on the pitch.
Squad13 Dec 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
Point won or two lost for Arezzo?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Guidonia Montecelio? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.