Marked for Guillermo May
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Auckland FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louis Verstraete 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Guillermo May. 3‑1 against Brisbane Roar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every Auckland FC game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Macarthur FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sandali Condé has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Auckland FC will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Daniel Hall named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniel Hall is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Dean Marshall could afford to be generous.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Verstraete was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonty Bidois, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Guillermo May has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Jake Brimmer 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Central Coast Mariners next, and one man in the Auckland FC dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match7 Nov 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Hiroki Sakai 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Louis Verstraete 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
With 7 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Match7 Nov 2026
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Guillermo May in the middle of it, and Wellington Phoenix unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.