From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
1‑5 against Damac, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match8 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 15 and 12 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Al-Shammari has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Hamad Al-Khaibari reports back to Al-Mojzel with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Shabab is saying, and nobody at Al-Mojzel is enjoying the guessing.
Match6 Feb 2027
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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Ahmed Al-Dosari among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Ahmed Al-Dosari on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Mojzel and Damac.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Juninho 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 targets1 Feb 2027
Al-Shabab 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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Hamad Al-Khaibari loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Hamad Al-Khaibari's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ali Al-Shammari chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Al-Mojzel board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match23 Jan 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑6 against Al-Riyadh, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad25 Jan 2027
There were 7 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.
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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
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-Riyadh in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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.
Looking ahead25 Jan 2027
Al-Mojzel face Al-Njoom in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Juninho 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑7 beating by Al-Diriyah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Hassan 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.
Transfer targets18 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
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-Diriyah in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad18 Jan 2027
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Rodrygo Figueiredo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juninho 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.
Boardroom18 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.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 95% 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
Match11 Jan 2027
Al-Mojzel sink to position 14
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market11 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.
Squad11 Jan 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Yasser Al-Hassan, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market11 Jan 2027
Al-Mojzel say no — this time
The offer from Ohod for Omar Al-Shammari 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Al-Nassr, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match9 Jan 2027
The drought breaks for Al-Mojzel
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Al-Nahda were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
At 18 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jan 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑6 against Al-Hazem, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ali Al-Rashid damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Ali Al-Shammari has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Mojzel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Jan 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
7 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Al-Ra'ed, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match2 Jan 2027
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-Hazem in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ace Sali wants to go home
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad28 Dec 2026
22 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 Dec 2026
0‑6 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
There were 7 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 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
6 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.
Match26 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-Fayha in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ace Sali 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Éder Peixoto
“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
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ali Al-Rashid
29 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.
Match19 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juninho 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ace Sali
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Bandar Al-Mutairi 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
It needed Juninho to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Saudi Al-Watani, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings21 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
A test against the best for Al-Mojzel
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 Al-Fayha.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
37 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.
Match14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Al-Mojzel
4 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Sami Al-Rashid 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Al-Shammari after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ahmed Al-Dosari
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Faisal Al-Ahmadi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ali Al-Rashid
44 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Al-Shammari has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Juninho 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 100% 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Juninho's mistake decides it
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Squad
A place in the month's best eleven for Éder Peixoto
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
12 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.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Al-Mojzel has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad30 Nov 2026
52 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑6 beating by Al-Ettifaq was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match28 Nov 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Ettifaq, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Hamad Al-Khaibari 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Al-Shammari after 0‑6, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juninho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
59 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.
Market23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ace Sali 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match23 Nov 2026
The half-term report on Al-Mojzel
Position 14, 7 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
It needed Juninho to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Shoulla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Al-Sultan, and the manager let it.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Al-Mojzel
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Player ratings
Hassan Al-Dosari wins it from the bench
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
66 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match14 Nov 2026
It had gone 14 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Hamad Al-Khaibari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match14 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Juninho’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Mojzel.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ace Sali falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khalid Al-Shammari, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
14 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ali Al-Rashid damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑7 to Al-Orobah, 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.
Match9 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 16 and 3 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Beaten 7 times, 2 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Hamad Al-Khaibari 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Éder Peixoto, and the manager let it.
Boardroom9 Nov 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
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
13 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match31 Oct 2026
13 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 13 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ali Al-Rashid damages knee ligaments — 81 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Al-Batin left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ali Al-Shammari to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Omar Al-Shehri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Éder Peixoto named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Éder Peixoto is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
12 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Al-Mojzel cannot find the net
12 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ali Al-Rashid damages knee ligaments — 88 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑5 against Damac, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ace Sali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Singnkhi Mpedi 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.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ali Al-Rashid damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
11 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 11 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ace Sali 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.
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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ace Sali
“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 dugout19 Oct 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.” Ali Al-Shammari chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Market19 Oct 2026
Omar Al-Ahmadi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Mojzel has been clear about where Omar Al-Ahmadi stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
The knee: Ali Al-Rashid out for 104 days
104 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑8 by Al-Riyadh, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match10 Oct 2026
10 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 10 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match12 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 16 and 2 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
There were 6 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Al-Mojzel leaking at the back
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match10 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Riyadh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Hamad Al-Khaibari ran the middle of the pitch — 6.70
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 6.70, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at Al-Mojzel
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Al-Mojzel
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ali Al-Rashid
111 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑6 beating by Al-Diriyah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 7 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Diriyah, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match3 Oct 2026
Al-Mojzel leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
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 Ace Sali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑3 against Al-Nahda, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a goal for Al-Mojzel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Singnkhi Mpedi 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.
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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Ali Al-Shammari to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Juninho 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.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Al-Mojzel
Al-Diriyah top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout28 Sep 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
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑3 against Al-Hazem, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Al-Mojzel
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Mojzel can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
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.
Squad21 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Al-Shammari after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
One moment undoes Juninho
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Squad21 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-Ahmadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Al-Fayha, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match9 Sep 2026
Al-Mojzel bow out of the cup
Al-Wehda go through and Al-Mojzel go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Al-Mojzel
6 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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 6 of the 29 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Match12 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Al-Mojzel
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Mojzel can tell you which week it ends in.
Market14 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match12 Sep 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Fayha, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Beaten 6 times, 3 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 5 in, 1 out at Al-Mojzel
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 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.
Match5 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Hamad Al-Khaibari again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Orobah. Al-Mojzel are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Singnkhi Mpedi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 7.26 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Al-Mojzel had the best player on the pitch.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Éder Peixoto named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Éder Peixoto is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
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Player ratings
Juninho was unplayable
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
11 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.
Market31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Rodrygo Figueiredo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
Al-Saudi Al-Watani paid $170.0K and Al-Mojzel took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match29 Aug 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel asked and Al-Hilal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Faisal Al-Ahmadi 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 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.
The dugout31 Aug 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.” Ali Al-Shammari chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑3 to Al-Jeel, 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.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No thanks: Saad Haqawi rejects the move
Al-Mojzel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Nassr, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Juninho 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 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Al-Shammari after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑9 beating by Al-Ettifaq was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market17 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel say no — this time
The offer from Ohod for Hassan Al-Sultan 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 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-Ra'ed, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ittihad keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
9 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.
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.
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 Juninho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Al-Nassr 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ahli keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rodrygo Figueiredo and Al-Mojzel agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faisal Al-Ahmadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Al-Ittihad 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Saeed Al-Ahmadi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Al-Mojzel.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
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
Words exchanged at Al-Mojzel
Rodrygo Figueiredo 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Mojzel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juninho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Abdullah Abdo is in the works
Al-Mojzel have made the call to Al-Ahli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Saad Haqawi is in the works
Al-Mojzel have made the call to Al-Nassr. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bandar Al-Mutairi has his answer from Al-Mojzel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.