Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slavia Prague will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Slavia Prague heard it as anything else.
Marked 8.50 — 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Matyáš Vojta at his very best
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slavia Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slavia Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Boulaye Dia is living that version at Slavia Prague, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
In brief
SquadWords at Slavia Prague training over how hard people work
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slavia Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slavia Prague have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Akinkunmi Amoo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Saša Lukić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Karel Spáčil 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Lukáš Provod is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ivo Grbić has written the date down.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Slavia Prague heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saša Lukić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Saša Lukić is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martin Dúbravka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slavia Prague. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slavia Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Tomáš Souček’s negotiating for him
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleko Basiladze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slavia Prague the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Saša Lukić 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Gonçalo Sousa has, at Slavia Prague, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Milson's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slavia Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Saša Lukić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.94 beside his name.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Words at Slavia Prague training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrison Armstrong 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.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slavia Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jaydon Banel has just signed for Slavia Prague, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words at Slavia Prague training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saša Lukić 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.
37 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slavia Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The offer from Banik Ostrava for Salim Fago Lawal 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Bright Osayi-Samuel has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Slavia Prague hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slavia Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slavia Prague have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slavia Prague will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slavia Prague can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Slavia Prague hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of David Zima
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slavia Prague will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad20 May 2030
Saša Lukić 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.
Nobody at Slavia Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slavia Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Slavia Prague, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slavia Prague is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Slavia Prague training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saša Lukić 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vasil Kušej is on it.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomáš Vlček trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.