From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
18 days out for Nasser Al-Saiari after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Mojzel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Zolani Nkombelo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Al-Mojzel have gone to Al-Shoulla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Alex Lima 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
“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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Al-Wehda: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Hamed Doukouré 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 Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Jun 2027
The name of Gianmarco Bellucci keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Mojzel say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fahad Al-Enezi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad7 Jun 2027
26 days out for Nasser Al-Saiari after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Mojzel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Al-Ettifaq; Al-Mojzel go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Zolani Nkombelo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Lima 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 targets7 Jun 2027
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Ahli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Saad Al-Dosari
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al-Mojzel will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 May 2027
33 days out for Nasser Al-Saiari after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Mojzel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 May 2027
Alex Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Gianmarco Bellucci 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 dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salman Al-Sheikh, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
5 new faces, and Al-Mojzel 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.
Market31 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Salman Al-Enezi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Nasser Al-Saiari out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Mojzel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
Alex Lima 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
Barak Braunshtain and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zolani Nkombelo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Wages swallow 134% of the Al-Mojzel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Zolani Nkombelo 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Alex Lima 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.
Loan watch17 May 2027
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Riyadh runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
Saad Al-Dosari 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 Saad Al-Dosari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rashid Al-Sultan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Gianmarco Bellucci 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Salman Al-Salem's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market10 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Mojzel, another week without a signature from Barak Braunshtain.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Market10 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Mojzel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fahad Al-Enezi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad3 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Mojzel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfredo Troncoso 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamed Doukouré, and the manager let it.
Market3 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Mojzel, another week without a signature from Hamed Doukouré.
Squad3 May 2027
Yin Jiaxi slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Yin Jiaxi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market3 May 2027
The Alex Lima story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alex Lima signs something — a contract at Al-Mojzel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager's exit leaves Yin Jiaxi exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Yin Jiaxi is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Zolani Nkombelo 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfredo Troncoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
132% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Mojzel
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.
The dugout26 Apr 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
Hamed Doukouré 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 Hamed Doukouré trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Questions about Salman Al-Sheikh on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianmarco Bellucci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Barak Braunshtain, and the manager let it.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Al-Riyadh to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
Squad19 Apr 2027
5 new faces, and Al-Mojzel 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.
The terraces19 Apr 2027
The stands have heard the Alex Lima talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Al-Mojzel would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Faisal Al-Subaie trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Mojzel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Bassem Al-Arini
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al-Mojzel will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Mojzel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salman Al-Sheikh, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Salman Al-Salem's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
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.
Match5 Apr 2027
Al-Mojzel finish in position 11
28 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Match3 Apr 2027
8 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Saad Al-Dosari: 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.” Al-Mojzel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Mojzel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Salman Al-Salem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Apr 2027
Al-Shoulla left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salman Al-Salem, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Mojzel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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 2027
Talal Al-Dawsari is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianmarco Bellucci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Wages eat 136% of everything Al-Mojzel earn
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.
Market29 Mar 2027
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khalid Hazazi and Al-Mojzel agree another 3 years.
The dugout29 Mar 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 Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Mar 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Mojzel
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Zolani Nkombelo 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 Mar 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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 terraces22 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Gianmarco Bellucci 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamed Doukouré, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.78 on the card, and the Al-Mojzel support went home talking about one name.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Al-Riyadh to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 30 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
6 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Alfredo Troncoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Lima 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Al-Orobah left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fahad Al-Enezi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Hamed Al-Shanqeeti's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Al-Mojzel are still strangers to each other
6 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fahad Al-Enezi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Mojzel
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zolani Nkombelo and Al-Mojzel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Mojzel know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Mar 2027
Al-Batin left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianmarco Bellucci 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 2027
The manager makes an example of Zolani Nkombelo
“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 dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Fahad Al-Enezi to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Mojzel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Mojzel is running low.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Mojzel know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Alex Lima 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfredo Troncoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Alfredo Troncoso did the work nobody counts — 6.85
12 combined actions and 6.85. 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 129% of the Al-Mojzel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Match27 Feb 2027
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Al-Mojzel had all but put away. Damac will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
Al-Mojzel throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al-Njoom the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al-Mojzel will enjoy reviewing.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Riyadh runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match20 Feb 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Njoom leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market22 Feb 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 1 games and 0 goals later he is back at Al-Mojzel no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fahad Al-Enezi after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match13 Feb 2027
Gianmarco Bellucci had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Al-Riyadh were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A brace, and Gianmarco Bellucci takes the afternoon — 8.69
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianmarco Bellucci provided it, and the 8.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Alfredo Troncoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Ahli have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Andrew Smith, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salman Al-Salem 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Salman Al-Salem
“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
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Gianmarco Bellucci had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Al-Diriyah were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Zolani Nkombelo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Qadisiyah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A masterclass from Alex Lima
Marked 8.20 — 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Al-Mojzel
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Mojzel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Mojzel close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nawaf Al-Shammari arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nawaf Al-Shammari has, at Al-Mojzel, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alfredo Troncoso. 3‑1 against Al-Nahda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Riyadh have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Al-Riyadh to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bassem Al-Arini 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.
In brief
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Match
Al-Mojzel settle it inside twenty minutes
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Squad
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
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Boardroom
112% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Mojzel
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑6 beating by Al-Hazem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Hazem, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Orobah have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salman Al-Sheikh 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad25 Jan 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Hamed Al-Shanqeeti knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match16 Jan 2027
2‑5 to Al-Fayha, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market18 Jan 2027
Al-Fayha come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Mojzel did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jan 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Fayha, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
Al-Fateh will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ammar Al-Hudaybi has pre-agreed a move to Al-Mojzel, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Ahli have kept their man, and Al-Mojzel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
Al-Mojzel supporters have found a favourite in Alex Lima
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Lima 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
Ali Al-Juhani damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Alfredo Troncoso will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Al-Mojzel escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.21, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Sultan Al-Sulami: 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.” Al-Mojzel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Mansour Al-Nakhli has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Al-Mojzel have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
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 dugout11 Jan 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ali Al-Juhani damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Alfredo Troncoso takes the afternoon — 8.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alfredo Troncoso provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Mojzel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Mojzel is running low.
Market4 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The deal with Al-Fayha 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Mojzel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A last season at home is what Alfredo Troncoso is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Gianmarco Bellucci takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianmarco Bellucci provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Rashid Al-Sultan: 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.” Al-Mojzel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Youssef Al-Juhani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
At 21 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Three points for Al-Mojzel, 2‑0 the final word against Al-Jeel in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fahad Al-Enezi on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
Saad Al-Dosari damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑6 to Al-Ettifaq, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alfredo Troncoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Mojzel and Al-Ettifaq in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout21 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Beaten 6 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Al-Mojzel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Riyadh runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match12 Dec 2026
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Al-Mojzel found something the first half had given no notice of, and Al-Shoulla could not hold what they had.
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Nicolás Ramírez takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicolás Ramírez provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Rashid Al-Ahmadi: 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.” Al-Mojzel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Alfredo Troncoso, 36, rolls back the years — 8.25
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Alex Lima goes up and wins it — 7.67
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 7.67 for the rest of it.
Squad14 Dec 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
A 4‑3 win over Al-Shoulla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nicolás Ramírez, 38, rolls back the years — 8.02
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Zolani Nkombelo 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Mojzel, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
At 21 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alfredo Troncoso. 2‑0 against Ohod, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
Saad Al-Dosari damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Al-Orobah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Al-Mojzel, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Hamed Doukouré 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 Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Nov 2026
Al-Mojzel are in real trouble now
Position 14, 7 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Alex Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Alex Lima
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Lima, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Mojzel, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 Fahad Al-Enezi left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Zolani Nkombelo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfredo Troncoso 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 Faisal Al-Subaie, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrés Iglesias’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Alex Lima 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 89% of the Al-Mojzel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Gianmarco Bellucci keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Mojzel say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad2 Nov 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Mojzel, 3‑1 the final word against Al-Njoom in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match31 Oct 2026
The drought breaks for Al-Mojzel
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Al-Njoom were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 7.04 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salman Al-Salem 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
Squad26 Oct 2026
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match26 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 16 and 4 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑3 against Al-Riyadh, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match24 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match24 Oct 2026
5 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Hamed Doukouré 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 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfredo Troncoso 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 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Ramírez
“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 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Al-Mojzel 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 15 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match17 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑4 beating by Al-Diriyah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match17 Oct 2026
4 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Talal Al-Dawsari is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout19 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Alfredo Troncoso 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 38, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Al-Mojzel know which stage they are at.
Market12 Oct 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
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Zolani Nkombelo 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Everybody at Al-Mojzel saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfredo Troncoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
3 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Al-Riyadh to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 8 matches say the rest.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Youssef Al-Juhani ran the middle of the pitch — 6.99
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.99, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Market5 Oct 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.67, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Mojzel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Hazem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Alex Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Alex Lima
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faisal Al-Subaie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Faisal Al-Subaie, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Al-Riyadh to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saad Al-Dosari
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑7 by Al-Fayha, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Mojzel and Al-Fayha in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Saad Al-Dosari 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Hamed Doukouré
“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.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
The clock did what Al-Riyadh would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Faisal Al-Subaie 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Al-Mojzel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Saad Al-Dosari damages knee ligaments — 120 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Match9 Sep 2026
Al-Wehda ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Gianmarco Bellucci takes the afternoon — 8.67
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianmarco Bellucci provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
Al-Mojzel are taken apart by Al-Wehda — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Every first appearance is one of two stories, and this was the harder one: 5.80, and a long walk to the tunnel. The second appearance is the one that decides what the first one meant.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A goal and an assist for Bassem Al-Arini — 7.92
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.92 beside his name.
Squad14 Sep 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Gianmarco Bellucci’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Mojzel.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Al-Mojzel 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 targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Riyadh is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Mojzel have done the hard part with Al-Riyadh, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Alex Lima 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A move Ehsan Ghoddos would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ehsan Ghoddos is living that version at Al-Mojzel, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salman Al-Sheikh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Al-Mojzel know which stage they are at.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ali Al-Sheikh damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Alex Lima delivers — 7.94
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alex Lima scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match29 Aug 2026
Al-Ta'ee left with the points after a 4‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.85, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to Al-Riyadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alex Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Zolani Nkombelo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
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Squad
Hamed Al-Shanqeeti lets one through his hands
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
5 new faces, and Al-Mojzel are still learning each other
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ali Al-Sheikh
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 2-goal lead gone for Al-Mojzel
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Al-Jeel kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Al-Mojzel will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.86, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Zolani Nkombelo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Nassr said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout24 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
16 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Hamed Doukouré arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Hamed Doukouré has, at Al-Mojzel, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Alex Lima beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ettifaq keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Alex Lima 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
4 academy players handed senior numbers at Al-Mojzel
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Salman Al-Enezi again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Njoom. Al-Mojzel are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianmarco Bellucci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alex Lima commits to Al-Mojzel for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alex Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Faisal Al-Subaie 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Al-Mojzel know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel have made the call to Al-Ettifaq. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Alex Lima 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.
The dugout10 Aug 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.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
Al-Ettifaq next, and one man in the Al-Mojzel dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sultan Al-Sulami and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Lima 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Al-Riyadh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Saad Al-Zahrani. The answer from Al-Mojzel has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Al-Ettifaq: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Taawoun 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Mojzel has been clear about where Youssef Al-Enezi stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Alex Lima 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 Al-Mojzel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.