An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ignacio de Arruabarrena knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“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 Arouca, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arouca know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arouca know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Alfonso Trezza has let it be known that he does not like the way Arouca are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
In brief
SquadMiguel Puche asks for a word with the manager
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
14 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like 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 Arouca can pretend not to have heard.
A new face in his position, and Ignacio de Arruabarrena suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Arouca have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.