Marked for Thibault Corbaz
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2032
Marcel Monsberger damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Squad12 Jul 2032
A fracture rules Liridon Berisha out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vaduz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jul 2032
“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 The request is on a desk at Vaduz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2032
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Luzern is saying, and nobody at Vaduz is enjoying the guessing.
Squad12 Jul 2032
A falling-out at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Simon Steffen is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market12 Jul 2032
Add another name to the list: Grasshopper have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alessio Hasler. The answer from Vaduz has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2032
Vaduz asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market12 Jul 2032
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marcel Monsberger
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vaduz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match28 Jun 2032
Vaduz sink to position 10
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad28 Jun 2032
A fracture rules Liridon Berisha out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vaduz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Jun 2032
Vaduz say no — this time
The offer from Zurich for Ayo Akinola 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.
Market28 Jun 2032
Leon Schaffran has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Vaduz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Tempers go at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Kevinho is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
A loan enquiry to OGC Nice: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout28 Jun 2032
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thibault Corbaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 Jun 2032
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Squad21 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marcel Monsberger
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vaduz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mallorca waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vaduz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vaduz have done the hard part with Valenciennes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Tempers go at Vaduz
Dominik Schwizer 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.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Mack 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 targets21 Jun 2032
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 dugout21 Jun 2032
No hiding place for Kevinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kevinho, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2032
Alessandro Micai 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.
Squad10 May 2032
A fracture rules Liridon Berisha out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vaduz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 May 2032
Ayo Akinola 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 Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2032
A row about effort at Vaduz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Mack was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom10 May 2032
Still nobody in the Vaduz dugout
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
The dugout10 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thibault Corbaz, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Market
Ayo Akinola linked with a move away
-
Boardroom
The Vaduz academy earns its keep
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Ayo Akinola
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2032
Alessandro Micai damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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 terraces26 Apr 2032
Supporters organise against the Vaduz 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.
Squad26 Apr 2032
A fracture rules Liridon Berisha out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vaduz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom26 Apr 2032
The scrutiny sharpens at Vaduz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Vaduz is running low.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
Thibault Corbaz: 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.” Vaduz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Words exchanged at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Leis Zekan knocks on the manager's door
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The dugout
The manager comes out for Alessandro Micai
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alessandro Micai
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vaduz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces29 Mar 2032
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Squad29 Mar 2032
123 days out for Liridon Berisha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vaduz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom29 Mar 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Vaduz
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Vaduz
Dominik Schwizer 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.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Mack 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2032
Alessandro Micai damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Vaduz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Schwizer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Kevinho 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 dugout15 Mar 2032
Sekou Diawara gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sekou Diawara is on it.
Market15 Mar 2032
The Ayo Akinola talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vaduz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2032
Alessandro Micai damages knee ligaments — 87 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Match8 Mar 2032
Vaduz are in real trouble now
Position 10, 5 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.
Market8 Mar 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vaduz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Mar 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dejan Djokic and Vaduz agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Ayo Akinola 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 Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Mack 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 dugout8 Mar 2032
Nico Okafor has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Vaduz 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vaduz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Thibault Corbaz has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Feb 2032
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vaduz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Feb 2032
A fracture rules Daris Zulji out for 27 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vaduz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Tempers go at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Luca Mack 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 dugout16 Feb 2032
Matthew Evans knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matthew Evans trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
Sekou Diawara gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sekou Diawara is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jan 2032
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vaduz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words exchanged at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Mack 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 targets26 Jan 2032
Vaduz asked and Arsenal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
A loan enquiry to Sporting CP: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
A loan enquiry to Aston Villa: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
Leis Zekan 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 dugout26 Jan 2032
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Dec 2031
Tempers go at Vaduz
Luca Mack 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Dominik Schwizer 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 dugout22 Dec 2031
“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 dugout22 Dec 2031
Sekou Diawara gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sekou Diawara is on it.
Market22 Dec 2031
The Ayo Akinola talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vaduz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Simon Steffen 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 Vaduz will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces8 Dec 2031
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Boardroom8 Dec 2031
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.
Squad8 Dec 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alessandro Micai commits to Vaduz for another 2 years.
Squad8 Dec 2031
A falling-out at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Schwizer 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 dugout8 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Thibault Corbaz
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 Nov 2031
“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.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Tempers go at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Mack 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 dugout24 Nov 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Beyer, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
Sekou Diawara has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Vaduz 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.
Market24 Nov 2031
The Ayo Akinola talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vaduz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces23 Jun 2031
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
45 days out for Mischa Eberhard after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vaduz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
The paperwork begins on Tom Gaal
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vaduz have done the hard part with Basel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
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.
Market23 Jun 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vaduz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Ayo Akinola 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 Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Schwizer 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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mischa Eberhard and Vaduz agree another 3 years.
Market23 Jun 2031
Ayo Akinola linked with a move away
The name of Ayo Akinola keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Vaduz say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2031
Every point is an argument now for Vaduz
Position 10 and 6 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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Elmir Kryeziu breaks a bone — 43 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Feb 2031
A falling-out at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Schwizer 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 targets10 Feb 2031
The clock did what Basel would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad10 Feb 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thibault Corbaz and Vaduz agree another 2 years.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
Simon Steffen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Vaduz 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.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
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.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
Sekou Diawara 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces3 Feb 2031
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Vaduz
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad3 Feb 2031
50 days out for Elmir Kryeziu after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vaduz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
Fee done, terms next for Giacomo Calò
Vaduz and Basel have settled on $660.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Vaduz until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
The deal with Cruzeiro 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.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Ayo Akinola 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 Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Luca Mack 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces9 Dec 2030
The mood at Vaduz 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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dominik Schwizer and Vaduz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Ayo Akinola 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 Vaduz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Vaduz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Schwizer 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 dugout9 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thibault Corbaz, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Nov 2030
17 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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
58 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Tempers go at Vaduz
Ayo Akinola 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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Vaduz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Schwizer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Vaduz pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
“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.
Match2 Nov 2030
Vaduz and Zurich take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Vaduz dressing room was either.