Marked for Eray Cömert
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Nov 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Torino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Torino
Rolando Mandragora and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“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 Nov 2027
Ivan Ilić 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Che Adams’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Kian Fitz-Jim has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Torino 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Torino has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 Gvidas Gineitis has written the date down.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Torino will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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.
Market11 Oct 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Torino can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Torino
Che Adams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eray Cömert, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torino told Ardian Ismajli something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
The Che Adams story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Che Adams signs something — a contract at Torino or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A wage question at Torino
Alessio Cacciamani 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
The stand keeps filling up for Cesare Casadei
Somebody from Napoli has seen every one of Cesare Casadei’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Torino knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torino people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Torino say no — this time
The offer from Servette for Ricardo Rodríguez 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Torino heard it as anything else.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Wisdom Acquah 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The step up is real for Álex Pérez
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Roma have kept their man, and Torino go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eray Cömert and Torino agree another 4 years.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Gvidas Gineitis
“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
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 May 2027
The cup run ends for Zurich
1‑3 against Basel, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match19 May 2027
After 15 games, Zurich finally taste it again
The first defeat in 15 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Basel; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Match19 May 2027
The run at home goes on for Zurich
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad24 May 2027
Lindrit Kamberi 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Ilan Sauter 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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 dugout24 May 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Bledian Krasniqi will call it something else in private.
The dugout24 May 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 1‑3 Albian Rieder left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexander Hack
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Neil Volken and Zurich agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Eray Cömert has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
The name of Philippe Keny keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zurich say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Ilan Sauter has been promised minutes
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 Ilan Sauter has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
Eray Cömert 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Kilian Fischer has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kilian Fischer signs something — a contract at Zurich or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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 Ivan Cavaleiro has written the date down.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Neil Volken 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
The Zurich production line keeps running
14 graduates out of an academy now rated 15 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Valon Berisha breaks a bone — 28 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Damienus Reverson is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Livano Comenencia, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Eray Cömert has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Philippe Keny signs something — a contract at Zurich or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Zurich lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
Valon Berisha breaks a bone — 58 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zurich can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Zurich
Eray Cömert and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zurich
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lindrit Kamberi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
65 days out for Valon Berisha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zurich will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Zurich
Kilian Fischer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohamed Bangoura and Zurich agree another 5 years.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
When it matters, Eray Cömert plays
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Selmin Hodža
“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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Philippe Keny keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zurich say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Ilan Sauter has been promised minutes
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 Ilan Sauter has written the date down.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Zurich production line keeps running
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Boardroom
Zurich board back the manager
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
95 days out for Valon Berisha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zurich will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Stade Lausanne-Ouchy had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Zurich, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luke Plange and Zurich agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Wil: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
When it matters, Eray Cömert plays
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The formation has left Luke Plange behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zurich will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Philippe Keny keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zurich say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Kilian Fischer keeps the shirt for now, at Zurich's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
110 days out for Valon Berisha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zurich will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match6 Jan 2027
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Neil Volken obliged against Winterthur. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Zurich.
Match6 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Zurich do not lose
14 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
Match11 Jan 2027
Zurich up to position 3
33 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Neil Volken, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The paperwork begins on Luke Plange
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zurich have done the hard part with Grasshopper, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Fiorentina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Dec 2026
9 unbeaten for Zurich
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Zurich did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Lindrit Kamberi 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 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Zurich have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Bledian Krasniqi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bledian Krasniqi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zurich have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Eray Cömert has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
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.” Albian Rieder chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match5 Dec 2026
Zurich draw a blank against Sion
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sion defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Miguel Reichmuth: 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.” Zurich have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match28 Nov 2026
Still nobody has beaten Zurich
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Lindrit Kamberi 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 ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
7.60, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zurich had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Albian Rieder after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad30 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Zurich lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zurich may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Bledian Krasniqi delivers — 7.97
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Bledian Krasniqi scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Zurich
Eray Cömert 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Still nobody has beaten Zurich
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
The dugout23 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
It needed Bledian Krasniqi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Lausanne-Sport, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Albian Rieder was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Zurich dressing room was either.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
A test against the best for Zurich
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Young Boys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
Cesare Casadei is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torino has been clear about where Cesare Casadei stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Torino
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sandro Kulenović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Cesare Casadei knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
When it matters, Rafael Melo plays
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Torino have let the market know Giovanni Simeone can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
9 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
11 starts now, an average of 6.75, and the team sheet at Zurich has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Nov 2026
No mercy from Zurich
Thun will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zurich were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Bledian Krasniqi takes the afternoon — 8.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bledian Krasniqi provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match9 Nov 2026
Zurich up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Nevio Di Giusto at 21 — 8.11
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nevio Di Giusto did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Zurich
Bledian Krasniqi 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.
Match8 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Zurich do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Eray Cömert gets picked when it counts
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Sekou Diawara
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Oct 2026
Zurich march on in the cup
Étoile Carouge are out and Zurich go through, 4‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A debut Michel Widmer will not forget — 7.48
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.48 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Damienus Reverson, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.10 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Damienus Reverson has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout2 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Lindrit Kamberi 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Zurich, 1‑0 the final word against St. Gallen in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Bledian Krasniqi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Zurich
Something was said to Eray Cömert and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Zurich game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Stade Lausanne-Ouchy runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Albian Rieder, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Heinz Lindner
“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
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Market12 Oct 2026
Saúl Coco is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torino has been clear about where Saúl Coco stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sandro Kulenović 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Saúl Coco knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torino told Devyne Rensch something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Franco Israel has had enough of the noise
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A season on the outside for Tiago Codinha
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Torino has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Looking ahead: Lecce at home
A side in position 5 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Eray Cömert 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Neil Volken
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Zurich
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lindrit Kamberi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Ilan Sauter 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zurich had all but put away. Grasshopper will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.90. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Philippe Keny makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Grasshopper leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Torino asked and Como said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Giovanni Simeone again, and this time the name on the line is Cádiz. Torino are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market17 Aug 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Nikola Vlašić leaves Torino the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Cagliari in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market17 Aug 2026
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Devyne Rensch arrives from AS Roma with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Rolando Mandragora keeps the shirt for now, at Torino's convenience rather than his own.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Torino would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
Looking ahead: the trip to Cagliari
Position 5 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Every dressing room has one man who does this for nothing and gets no credit for it. The club will not put it in a press release, but it is worth a coach.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Aug 2026
Zurich say no — this time
The offer from Lugano for Alexander Hack 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Philippe Keny has come up in conversations Zurich were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market17 Aug 2026
Silas Huber has left for Hamburger SV in a $2.3M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market17 Aug 2026
Business is business: Umeh Emmanuel goes
Servette paid $1.8M and Zurich took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi 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 targets17 Aug 2026
Zurich asked and Viktoria Plzen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Zurich
Eray Cömert and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Zurich are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
A test against the best for Zurich
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Player ratings
Kevin Spadanuda was unplayable