It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Athletico Paranaense have kept their man, and ASA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at ASA that is a harder question to answer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ASA have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 The request is on a desk at ASA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everybody at ASA saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Índio 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Geovane trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at ASA would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. ASA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Índio 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.
100 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lisandro Musso is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Chances created: 11. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ASA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Cristiano Fonseca chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Índio 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davi Santos 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Junior Cedeño trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iago André signs something — a contract at ASA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Geovane has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one ASA will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASA can pretend not to have heard.
Keliton was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Geovane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 18 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. ASA will try not to make too much of it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Edmar Sucuri is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Central next, and one man in the ASA dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davi Santos signs something — a contract at ASA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
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.” Cristiano Fonseca, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at ASA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ASA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. ASA have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Keliton was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over Santa Cruz de Natal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. ASA know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASA can pretend not to have heard.
Keliton 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Réggis 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Lisandro Musso knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Cristiano Fonseca left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Réggis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ASA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Cristiano Fonseca after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Diego Minete did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Índio scored, was marked 7.57, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Índio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Keliton was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Cristiano Fonseca on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ASA, another week without a signature from Gabriel Robledo.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Réggis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ASA, another week without a signature from Junior Cedeño.
Something was said to Keliton and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Everybody at ASA saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Iago André
Índio 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arthur Pangaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutJunior Cedeño knocks on the manager's door
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Réggis 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.
Junior Cedeño has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
ASA asked and Cascavel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Pretel 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.
ASA asked and São José said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Réggis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and ASA know which stage they are at.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Iago André has moved up it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at ASA. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
24 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
The deal with Atlético Goianiense is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Pretel 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.
Chacarita Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and ASA know which stage they are at.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ASA, another week without a signature from Matheus Guedes.
“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 ASA, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.55 for the rest of it.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Cedeño. 1‑0 against América de Natal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Roberto 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.
9 combined actions and 7.10. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Douglas Souza 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.
23 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Cristiano Fonseca after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Junior Cedeño 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.
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Douglas Souza 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and ASA know which stage they are at.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. ASA have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
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.
“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.