Max Svensson

Attacking Midfielder (R) - AVS
14 Aug 2030
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Max Svensson

202 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

AVS baulk at the price for Midana Cassamá

Chaves wanted more than $1.3M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

José Cesarini has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Victor Froholdt rejects the move

AVS had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Porto, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Boardroom

José Cesarini signs for Famalicao while still at AVS

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. José Cesarini has agreed terms with Famalicao for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Transfer targets

AVS bid $280.0K for Gonçalo Maia

The offer went to Farense this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ignace Van Der Brempt

AVS asked and Porto 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 dugout

Rémi Himbert gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

Back issues
192 Edition

The AVS Gazette

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the AVS boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Match

AVS finish in position 8

48 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Squad

A day Max Svensson will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

Lucas Henrique puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Lucas Rodríguez keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Max Svensson is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.43 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Match

6 goals as AVS and Benfica go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AVS and Benfica, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

AVS see off Benfica

Three points for AVS, 4‑2 the final word against Benfica in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

191 Edition

The AVS Gazette

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

The dugout

Nasser Nasser says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Market

Chris Martínez is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Rodrigo Pinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Sporting CP

1‑2 to Sporting CP, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alaa Bellaarouch

“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 dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Rodrigo Pinho left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Rodrigo Pinho will call it something else in private.

In brief

190 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Samuel Tengoh keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Nobody wants to play AVS right now

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.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Boulaye Dia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

10 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Rio Ave

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 2‑1 against Rio Ave, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.25. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

The dugout

A promise honoured at AVS

Something was said to Boulaye Dia and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

187 Edition

The AVS Gazette

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at AVS has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

7 matches without a win for AVS

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around AVS are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch keeps AVS in it on his own

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Chris Martínez

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chris Martínez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Chris Martínez has agreed to leave AVS for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Andre Green 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

Famalicao take the points off AVS

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

186 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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.

Boardroom

AVS beat the market to Zalnando from Penafiel

Penafiel will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Zalnando has pre-agreed a move to AVS, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Transfer targets

Atlético Madrid tell AVS: Clément Lenglet is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

9 goals and a season average of 7.38. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chuchu Ramírez

Marked 8.14 — 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jorge Aguirre

“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.

Market

Matheus Sampaio has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether AVS can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

In brief

183 Edition

The AVS Gazette

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Market

Andre Green puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Stade Brestois tell AVS: Arnaud Bodart is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Braga

0‑1 to Braga, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

200 appearances for Jorge Aguirre

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

182 Edition

The AVS Gazette

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

7 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Chris Martínez puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jon Moncayola

AVS asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Max Svensson is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.37 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Vitoria Guimaraes take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorge Aguirre

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Aguirre, and the manager let it.

Squad

Felix Onana signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Felix Onana commits to AVS for another 4 years.

In brief

181 Edition

The AVS Gazette

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 40. 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.

Market

Sebastian Jensen has said yes to Wadi Degla

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AVS have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

AVS say no — this time

The offer from Las Palmas for Raúl Alcaina 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.

Market

Sebastian Jensen puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Alexander Sørloth

AVS asked and Atlético Madrid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Andre Green is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AVS has been clear about where Andre Green stands, which is more than many ever get.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Andre Green

Marked 8.01 — 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

180 Edition

The AVS Gazette

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Koba Koindredi wins it after the whistle should have gone

93 minutes played. Koba Koindredi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Moreirense went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at AVS

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

José Cesarini hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Sebastian Jensen keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

AVS lose Kiki Afonso

65 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

Nobody wants to play AVS right now

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.

Market

Persijap watching Tomé Sousa

The interest is real enough to have reached print. AVS have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

In brief

179 Edition

The AVS Gazette

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at AVS has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 34. 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.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Squad

Kiki Afonso 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.

Match

AVS find a way past Alverca

Alverca made AVS work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Andre Green at his very best

Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Player ratings

Chuchu Ramírez in the eights

A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Matheus Sampaio

“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.

In brief

178 Edition

The AVS Gazette

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Raul Steffens asks to leave AVS

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Chuchu Ramírez sends AVS past Torreense

It finished 2‑1, and it was Chuchu Ramírez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Max Svensson

9 goals and a season average of 7.35 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

No hiding place for Rodrigo Pinho

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Pinho, and the manager let it.

Match

At last: AVS win one

5 matches without a win, and then this, against Torreense. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Max Svensson

Marked 8.55 — 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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

177 Edition

The AVS Gazette

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for AVS

5 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.

The dugout

Lucas Rodríguez says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Rodrigo Pinho 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Arouca

1‑3 to Arouca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

8 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Player ratings

One of those days for Max Svensson

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Nuno Semedo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nuno Semedo and AVS agree another 3 years.

In brief

176 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch keeps AVS in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Tiago Galletto hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Kiki Afonso 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.

Match

Porto take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Nuno Semedo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nuno Semedo and AVS agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

AVS keep their word to Diogo Brasido

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

175 Edition

The AVS Gazette

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nikolas Panagiotou damages knee ligaments — 22 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Market

José Cesarini puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Andre Green 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Benfica

0‑1 to Benfica, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Max Svensson

200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

Match

AVS at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 9, 24 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

The dugout

Interim Coach: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

174 Edition

The AVS Gazette

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolas Panagiotou

30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AVS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

9 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Max Svensson among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Max Svensson on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AVS and Sporting CP.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.57. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Match

Nobody wins at AVS

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Player ratings

Max Svensson in the eights

A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

173 Edition

The AVS Gazette

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolas Panagiotou

39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AVS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

José Cesarini: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Koba Koindredi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 22. 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiki Afonso 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at AVS

5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

The form table has caught Rodrigo Pinho

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.

The dugout

Interim Coach on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Roni

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

171 Edition

The AVS Gazette

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AVS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

The small margins put AVS out

Out, 0‑2 to Vitoria Guimaraes, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market

Sebastian Jensen asks to leave AVS

“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.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

AVS come up short against Estoril Praia

Estoril Praia left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Pinho

“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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.66. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

170 Edition

The AVS Gazette

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 24 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.

Market

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Miracle Adewole keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alaa Bellaarouch 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.

Match

AVS find a way past Famalicao

Famalicao made AVS work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Goal number 50 for Max Svensson

50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Max Svensson

Marked 8.31 — 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.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Rodrigo Pinho

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

169 Edition

The AVS Gazette

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Kiki Afonso out for 33 days

33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AVS lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

José Cesarini hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

AVS get the job done against Casa Pia

A 2‑0 win over Casa Pia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chuchu Ramírez

Marked 8.26 — 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 ratings

Koba Koindredi was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.19. 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at AVS

6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

167 Edition

The AVS Gazette

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 49 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

The dugout

Chris Martínez says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chuchu Ramírez

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alaa Bellaarouch 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.

Boardroom

Isac will join AVS for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Isac has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means AVS have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Gil Vicente

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 1‑0 against Gil Vicente, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

165 Edition

The AVS Gazette

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 64 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.

Squad

25 days out for Jorge Aguirre after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AVS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alaa Bellaarouch

There were 9 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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Max Svensson takes the afternoon — 8.64

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Max Svensson provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Eduardo Teixeira has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

Alyson says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Match

Max Svensson sends AVS past Vitoria Guimaraes

It finished 2‑0, and it was Max Svensson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

The dugout

The form table has caught Rodrigo Pinho

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.

In brief

164 Edition

The AVS Gazette

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AVS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 39. 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.

Boardroom

AVS give the job to Interim Coach

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.

Squad

A fracture rules Jorge Aguirre out for 32 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AVS will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Kiki Afonso

At 35 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Transfer targets

Aston Villa tell AVS: Ryan Christie is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

The dugout

Rodrigo Pinho gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

AVS pick somebody else ahead of Rodrigo Pinho

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.

In brief

  • The dugout Interim Coach: “We have to be better”
  • Match Point won or two lost for AVS?
  • Market The Roni story refuses to die
163 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AVS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

39 days out for Jorge Aguirre after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AVS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Nuno Semedo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Rodrigo Pinho 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The drought breaks for AVS

6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Moreirense were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Porto tell AVS: Daniele Ghilardi is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

AVS find a way past Moreirense

Moreirense made AVS work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

140 Edition

The AVS Gazette

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the AVS boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Boardroom

AVS spell it out for Interim Coach

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Match

AVS are in real trouble now

Position 16, 32 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Raul Steffens hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Match

The season ends: position 16 for AVS

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 32 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Market

Carlos León is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Rodrigo Pinho 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Max Svensson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

138 Edition

The AVS Gazette

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Max Svensson scores twice — 8.48

Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Vitoria Guimaraes

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 2‑1 against Vitoria Guimaraes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Koba Koindredi did the work nobody counts — 7.15

12 combined actions and 7.15. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

10 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

No place for Tomé Sousa on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at AVS pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

The dugout

Louis Scherer gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

137 Edition

The AVS Gazette

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Both of them Max Svensson's — 8.47

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.47, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Francisco Barroso hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Pacos de Ferreira

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 2‑0 against Pacos de Ferreira, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Andre Green beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Interim Coach has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Raul Steffens 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.

Market

Jean-Pierre Rhyner told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jean-Pierre Rhyner has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at AVS.

In brief

135 Edition

The AVS Gazette

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Squad

12 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

A move Tomé Sousa would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tomé Sousa is living that version at AVS, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jean-Pierre Rhyner

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jean-Pierre Rhyner will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Koba Koindredi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tomé Sousa

“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 dugout

Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

In brief

134 Edition

The AVS Gazette

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Andre Green puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

6 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Kamal Aboul Fatouh is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Mike Trésor

AVS asked and Sporting CP said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Koba Koindredi sends AVS past Santa Clara

It finished 2‑1, and it was Koba Koindredi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Koba Koindredi at his very best

Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

132 Edition

The AVS Gazette

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

AVS run out of patience with Duarte Ribeiro

The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Duarte Ribeiro clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.

Market

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

AVS have nobody left to take training

Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.

Boardroom

Interim Coach minds the shop at AVS

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.

The dugout

Jean-Pierre Rhyner: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Boardroom

AVS close the window on a squad of their own making

2 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Market

Carlos León is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

In brief

130 Edition

The AVS Gazette

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alaa Bellaarouch

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.

Match

The wait goes on for AVS

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.

Market

Kamal Aboul Fatouh puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kamal Aboul Fatouh

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamal Aboul Fatouh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Koba Koindredi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alaa Bellaarouch 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.

Transfer targets

Sporting CP tell AVS: Mike Trésor is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

AVS leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Match

AVS come up short against Sporting CP

Sporting CP left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

129 Edition

The AVS Gazette

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Rio Ave punish AVS for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Max Svensson will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at AVS escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Player ratings

A brace, and Max Svensson takes the afternoon — 8.48

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Max Svensson provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Francisco Barroso hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

The dugout

Casian Soare keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Grégoire Coudert

AVS asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

Jorge Meireles ran the middle of the pitch — 7.06

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.06, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

In brief

128 Edition

The AVS Gazette

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Raul Steffens asks to leave AVS

“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.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 29. 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.

Player ratings

Roni pops up at the right end — 7.69

7.69, 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.

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Diego Arteaga arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Diego Arteaga has, at AVS, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

AVS rebuffed over Alexander Bah

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benfica have kept their man, and AVS go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

Raul Steffens gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

126 Edition

The AVS Gazette

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

The cup run ends for AVS

0‑3 against Sporting CP, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

The terraces

AVS are taken apart by Sporting CP — and the town wants answers

It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.

The dugout

Miracle Adewole keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kamal Aboul Fatouh

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamal Aboul Fatouh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Doors closed at AVS

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

125 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Alyson keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AVS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Bernardo Conde has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

AVS cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

The game went through Koba Koindredi — 7.70

Marked 7.70 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koba Koindredi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

AVS see off Arouca

Three points for AVS, 2‑0 the final word against Arouca in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Max Svensson

Marked 8.37 — 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 ratings

Jorge Meireles in the eights

A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

124 Edition

The AVS Gazette

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Andre Green scores twice — 8.16

Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Davi Schuindt has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

AVS find a way past Penafiel

Penafiel made AVS work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Market

Matheus Sampaio has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether AVS can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diogo Brasido was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Max Svensson in the eights

A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Duarte Ribeiro kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Daniel Rivas

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AVS told Daniel Rivas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Alyson
  • The dugout Raul Steffens asks for a word with the manager
  • Market The Roni question follows AVS around
123 Edition

The AVS Gazette

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at AVS has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the AVS boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Boardroom

AVS spell it out for Duarte Ribeiro

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Duarte Ribeiro has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Market

Francisco Barroso hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Jean-Pierre Rhyner has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

Louis Scherer says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

AVS to lose Jean-Pierre Rhyner for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Jean-Pierre Rhyner 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.

Squad

Kiki Afonso stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Kiki Afonso and AVS agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

122 Edition

The AVS Gazette

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Kamal Aboul Fatouh asks to leave AVS

“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.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for AVS — 7.55

1 for Daniel Rivas, marked 7.55, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

The dugout

Markus Assarsson says AVS went back on their word

“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.

Match

4 matches without a win for AVS

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AVS are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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.

Squad

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Bruno Mendes

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. AVS will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

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.

The dugout

The form table has caught Rodrigo Pinho

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.

In brief

120 Edition

The AVS Gazette

13 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 48. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Raul Steffens hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Davi Schuindt is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Koba Koindredi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Raul Steffens

“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.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Pacos de Ferreira

0‑1 to Pacos de Ferreira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Jorge Meireles ran the middle of the pitch — 6.80

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.80, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

The dugout

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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Duarte Ribeiro to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

119 Edition

The AVS Gazette

6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at AVS has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

Raúl Alcaina sends AVS through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Raúl Alcaina obliged against Famalicao. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is AVS.

Player ratings

Raúl Alcaina scores twice — 9.29

Two goals and a mark of 9.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Daniel Nascimento breaks a bone — 16 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Francisco Barroso asks to leave AVS

“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.

Squad

Andre Green in trouble away from the ground

Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kamal Aboul Fatouh

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamal Aboul Fatouh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

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.

In brief

118 Edition

The AVS Gazette

30 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for AVS

12 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.

Match

Chastening afternoon for AVS

A 0‑3 beating by Famalicao was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

24 days out for Daniel Nascimento after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AVS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Koba Koindredi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Diogo Brasido falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Rivas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Rivas, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the AVS dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Squad

Kamal Aboul Fatouh wants to go home

“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 AVS know it.

In brief

117 Edition

The AVS Gazette

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

11 matches without a win for AVS

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around AVS are no longer polite ones.

The dugout

Raul Steffens: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

32 days out for Daniel Nascimento after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AVS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Every point is an argument now for AVS

Position 17 and 5 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.

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch keeps AVS in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Kamal Aboul Fatouh puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Bernardo Conde

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bernardo Conde will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

  • Squad A row about effort at AVS
  • The dugout No hiding place for Alyson
  • Match AVS share the spoils with Santa Clara
116 Edition

The AVS Gazette

16 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“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 AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Daniel Nascimento breaks a bone — 41 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Rodrigo Pinho pulls a muscle — 16 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Market

Davi Schuindt is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

AVS come up short against Estrela da Amadora

Estrela da Amadora left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kiki Afonso

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kiki Afonso, and the manager let it.

In brief

115 Edition

The AVS Gazette

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for AVS

9 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.

Squad

Daniel Nascimento breaks a bone — 49 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Francisco Barroso asks to leave AVS

“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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kamal Aboul Fatouh

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamal Aboul Fatouh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Porto take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diogo Brasido was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorge Aguirre

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Aguirre, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Max Svensson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

112 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 44. 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.

Squad

17 days out for Daniel Nascimento after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AVS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Kamal Aboul Fatouh hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Davi Schuindt

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davi Schuindt will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

AVS rebuffed over Adrian Leon Barišić

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and AVS go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

AVS come up short against Rio Ave

Rio Ave left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diogo Brasido 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.

In brief