Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Farense for Yanis Begraoui 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Estoril Praia can tell you which week it ends in.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Udinese keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cagliari is saying, and nobody at Estoril Praia is enjoying the guessing.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Estoril Praia asked and São Paulo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
“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 Estoril Praia know it.
Atlético Mineiro have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Estoril Praia have done the hard part with Cagliari, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Estoril Praia asked and Botafogo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Estoril Praia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Sporting CP for João Carvalho 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at São Paulo is saying, and nobody at Estoril Praia is enjoying the guessing.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wolverhampton have kept their man, and Estoril Praia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Kelian Baruti Liamba again, and this time the name on the line is Sampdoria. Estoril Praia are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadXeka falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ismael Sierra has come up in conversations Estoril Praia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan Róchez 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal with Moreirense is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Internacional is saying, and nobody at Estoril Praia is enjoying the guessing.
Estoril Praia asked and Braga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Everything agreed with Internacional, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. António Vital has agreed terms with Sanjoanense for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Estoril Praia asked and Aston Villa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Estoril Praia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutBryan Róchez knocks on the manager’s door
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Estoril Praia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutCarlos Gomez knocks on the manager’s door
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Estoril Praia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Yanis Begraoui will call it something else in private.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑1 to Casa Pia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rui Fernandes after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
0‑3 to AVS, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Estoril Praia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Marked 6.41 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Catarino Pascoal is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Marked 7.53 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yanis Begraoui. 1‑0 against Sporting CP, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
Jordan Holsgrove 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 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 Estoril Praia know it.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
“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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Rui Fernandes to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutJoel Robles asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Pizzi
“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 Estoril Praia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Estoril Praia know it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Lacximicant. 2‑0 against Famalicao, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Rui Fernandes could afford to be generous.
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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nacional left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
“I watch every Estoril Praia game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lusitano Évora runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Rui Fernandes left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Estoril Praia asked and Manchester City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Rui Fernandes on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jorge Mora
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Estoril Praia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with Estudiantes de Merida is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Novorizontino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Nottingham Forest is saying, and nobody at Estoril Praia is enjoying the guessing.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Add another name to the list: CR Belouizdad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kelian Baruti Liamba. The answer from Estoril Praia has not changed — yet.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
“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 Estoril Praia know it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and União de Santarém waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Estoril Praia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Estoril Praia have done the hard part with Nottingham Forest, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is saying, and nobody at Estoril Praia is enjoying the guessing.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manchester City have kept their man, and Estoril Praia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Catarino Pascoal is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
A 1‑0 win over Tondela, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
João Carvalho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. André Lacximicant provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 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.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Rui Fernandes could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. André Lacximicant provided it, and the 8.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Xeka scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7.84, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
“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 Estoril Praia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Lacximicant. 3‑2 against AVS, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Rui Fernandes to a room that had heard them before.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Fernando Medrano's mistake
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sporting CP in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Júlio Gil 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 Rafik Guitane has written the date down.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Famalicao; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xeka 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Something was said to Fernando Medrano and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. André Lacximicant provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Lacximicant. 3‑1 against Nacional, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Marked 8.13 — 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Rui Fernandes on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The name of Bryan Róchez has come up in conversations Estoril Praia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Estoril Praia asked and Portimonense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Two goals and a mark of 8.03 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Moreirense tried to reorganise, Estoril Praia did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
João Carvalho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Atlético CP have accepted the money. What Estoril Praia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything agreed with Lusitânia Lourosa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Jordan Holsgrove 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 Estoril Praia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Estoril Praia asked and Portimonense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Felipe Pacheco is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
SquadWords at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
SquadEstoril Praia are still strangers to each other