Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdoulaye Sall will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Carpi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdoulaye Sall has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Ligue was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Carpi told Diego Peralta something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Giuseppe Ciocci is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Giana Erminio next, and one man in the Carpi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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 Nov 2029
Enzo Acosta 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.52, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Diego Peralta.
Squad12 Nov 2029
7 new faces, and Carpi 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.
4 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Ligue is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Davide Zagnoni.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with AlbinoLeffe the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Carpi will enjoy reviewing.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Ligue 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.
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.
A 2‑2 draw with AlbinoLeffe leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Jacopo Furlan
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Federico Vietto 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.
At 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Acosta 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Ligue 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.
7 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Davide Macrì is on it.
Novara next, and one man in the Carpi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Carpi would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
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.
Federico Vietto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Junior Ligue 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 7.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Vietto, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Enzo Acosta 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A brace, and Junior Ligue takes the afternoon — 8.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Junior Ligue provided it, and the 8.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 23 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.
Federico Vietto 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nikita Golovach has, at Carpi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Ligue 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Luigi Pellegrino could afford to be generous.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mathis Bedel Valette has his answer from Carpi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Acosta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad10 Sep 2029
7 new faces, and Carpi 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 14 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Enzo Acosta 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.
Carpi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AS Roma, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Federico Vietto 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 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dario Ceccarelli is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Martino Rizzo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ignazio Rocca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Carpi have done the hard part with Ascoli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Carpi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Carpi have no good answer.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cristiano Giudici has written the date down.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Carpi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Casertana is saying, and nobody at Carpi is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Acosta 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.
At 23 nothing has moved for months. Not backwards, which would at least be a conversation — simply nowhere, and somebody at the club has to decide whose fault that is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Carpi have done the hard part with Union Brescia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Carpi offered $4.0K; Cremonese said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“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 Carpi know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AS Roma keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Federico Vietto 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.
$4.0K on the table at Cremonese. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Virgilio 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have shaken hands with Casertana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Enzo Acosta 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Virgilio 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Carpi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lazio is saying, and nobody at Carpi is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Carpi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Federico Vietto 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.
Carpi asked and Ascoli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Acosta 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Carpi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Carpi have no good answer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Carpi have done the hard part with Casertana, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$4.0K was the most the club would pay and Cremonese were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Vietto signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Valerio Mastrantonio has written the date down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Cremonese 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Niccolò Pietra'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.
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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Carpi know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdeldjalil Bahoussi and Carpi agree another 1 years.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Davide Zagnoni.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Virgilio signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Federico Vietto 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have 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 Carpi know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Carpi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Carpi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Carpi will try not to make too much of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Virgilio signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Carpi is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Carpi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Somebody from Spezia has seen every one of Cristian Virgilio’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Carpi knows it.
In brief
SquadSamuele Magni is training like a man with a point to make
Position 9 on 42 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Niccolò Pietra'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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luigi Pellegrino was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Carpi dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Davide Zagnoni
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Davide Macrì is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AlbinoLeffe in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Carpi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Marked 7.23. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luigi Pellegrino was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Carpi dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valerio Mastrantonio trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Carpi is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Niccolò Pietra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Carpi has been clear about where Abdoulaye Sall stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Carpi know it.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Marked 7.82 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Carpi had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Luigi Pellegrino kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Pergolettese next, and one man in the Carpi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Carpi ran out of time with Casertana. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
That is the business done at Carpi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Carpi will try again when the window opens; Atalanta may not be selling by then.
8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Federico Vietto 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 offer went to Casertana 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Perugia have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 dugout29 Jan 2029
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 Luigi Pellegrino left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Federico Vietto 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.
$36.0K on the table at Dolomiti Bellunesi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Carpi offered $25.0K; Casertana said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
In brief
SquadRiccardo Gatti falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Transfer targetsA loan move for Bautista Arricau is in the works
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Casertana 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.
Carpi offered $35.0K; Dolomiti Bellunesi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Carpi have gone to Dolomiti Bellunesi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Federico Vietto 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 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.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Frosinone continues; the message travels home.
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.
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.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Cristian Virgilio 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.
26 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Luigi Pellegrino, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutSamuele Magni asks for a word with the manager
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Tronchin 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.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Luigi Pellegrino kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valerio Mastrantonio trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
13 combined actions and 6.82. 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
AlbinoLeffe next, and one man in the Carpi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Vietto signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Davide Zagnoni.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
6 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.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Niccolò Pietra
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Carpi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Federico Vietto 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.
14 combined actions and 7.33. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Tronchin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Enzo Acosta 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Vietto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erik Gerbi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Carpi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Erik Gerbi signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Carpi is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
7.91, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Federico Vietto 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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 Carpi, and 4 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luigi Pellegrino after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
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.
Federico Vietto 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Francesco Molica has just signed for Carpi, and for once the answer mattered.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Carpi told Federico Vietto something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Erik Gerbi signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Alejo Fernández has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Vietto signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Samuele Magni has written the date down.
Two goals and a mark of 8.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Acosta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Erik Gerbi had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Cittadella were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Carpi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.89, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Carpi and a proper look at me.” He remains Frosinone’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Carpi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Something was said to Francesco Ardizzone and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Davide Zagnoni
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Carpi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Cristian Virgilio did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Carpi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Federico Vietto 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Carpi asked and Pescara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Virgilio 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Carpi has been clear about where Valerio Mastrantonio stands, which is more than many ever get.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Carpi will try again when the window opens; Dolomiti Bellunesi may not be selling by then.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Matteo Figoli.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Carpi are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Carpi close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 15 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.
The deal with Dolomiti Bellunesi 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.
Federico Vietto 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.
Carpi asked and Audace Cerignola said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Figoli 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.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Carpi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
The deal with Potenza 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.
The deal that would have taken Adriel Walker to Latina has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Carpi with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Salernitana have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$36.0K was the most the club would pay and Dolomiti Bellunesi were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Carpi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Gubbio for Federico Tonin 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.
Carpi asked and Pescara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Dolomiti Bellunesi 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.
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.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Mattia Marchetti has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
$600.0K on the table at Salernitana. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Carpi have done the hard part with Modena, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Federico Tonin again, and this time the name on the line is Gubbio. Carpi are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer went to Pescara 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.
$35.0K on the table at Dolomiti Bellunesi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Carpi, another week without a signature from Davide Zagnoni.
Nobody at Carpi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Audace Cerignola 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.
Carpi have gone to Salernitana 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.
Carpi offered $35.0K; Dolomiti Bellunesi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Virgilio 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Carpi have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$35.0K on the table at Dolomiti Bellunesi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$82.0K was the most the club would pay and Audace Cerignola were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Carpi will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The deal with Giugliano 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Carpi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Carpi offered $560.0K; Potenza said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Carpi know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad17 Jul 2028
9 new faces, and Carpi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valerio Mastrantonio and Carpi agree another 4 years.
Federico Vietto 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kasper Nieuwenhuis has, at Carpi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Enzo Acosta has just signed for Carpi, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer went to Potenza 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Alcione Milano moved on, Adriel Walker reports back to Carpi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Carpi have gone to Audace Cerignola 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Crotone have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have shaken hands with Pisa; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$48.0K on the table at Crotone. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Carpi would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The clubs have shaken hands with Cagliari; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Perugia 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Fabio Desole has agreed terms with Cagliari for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 5, 42 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Federico Vietto 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Figoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hellas Verona have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Carpi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Juventus is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hellas Verona 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Carpi know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Nobody at Carpi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jhoan Merino is living that version at Carpi, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Vietto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Carpi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Figoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Federico Vietto 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Carpi has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Carpi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Davide Zagnoni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“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 Carpi know it.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
51 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 May 2028
Matteo Figoli 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.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Riccardo Gatti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
Position 5, 42 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Carpi and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 42 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Federico Vietto 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.” Luigi Pellegrino chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Figoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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 Luigi Pellegrino to a room that had heard them before.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Riccardo Gatti will call it something else in private.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valerio Mastrantonio and Carpi agree another 4 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Federico Vietto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cittadella next, and one man in the Carpi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Position 5, 40 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Carpi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Carpi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Carpi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Figoli 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.
“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 Carpi know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
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 Luigi Pellegrino left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Carpi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Vietto signs something — a contract at Carpi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Riccardo Gatti.
Federico Vietto 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.
At 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Figoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.72, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Luigi Pellegrino kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Nobody at Carpi is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Dolomiti Bellunesi were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Federico Vietto 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 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Luigi Pellegrino on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Carpi ran out of time with Latina. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gatti 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The clubs have shaken hands with Latina; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Carpi can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Carpi 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stredair Appuah Owusu 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Giugliano have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Carpi will try again when the window opens; Empoli may not be selling by then.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Carpi has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
$200.0K settles it between the clubs for Jacopo Landi
Empoli have accepted the money. What Carpi do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$74.0K was the most the club would pay and Spezia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stredair Appuah Owusu 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Carpi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Gabriele Bracaglia's mistake
The clubs have shaken hands with Lecce; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Carpi can tell you which week it ends in.
$74.0K on the table at Spezia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Federico Vietto 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Picerno have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Cremonese 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.
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.
3 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Carpi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alejo Fernández is living that version at Carpi, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Union Brescia paid $370.0K and Carpi took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stredair Appuah Owusu 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.
Carpi asked and Südtirol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luigi Pellegrino after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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 Carpi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Carpi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Carpi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
A loan enquiry to Virtus Entella: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Carpi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stredair Appuah Owusu 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.