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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zurich will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sekou Diawara is on it.
“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 Zurich will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zurich. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Marcus Ingvartsen 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Sekou Diawara was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.20. 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.
At 22 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zurich have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
1 for Bledian Krasniqi, marked 7.93, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Marcus Ingvartsen 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 Bledian Krasniqi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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 Zurich, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Position 8 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Noah Xhaka 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. Michel Kobel is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
8 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Albian Rodriguez left the room before anybody could ask which.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Gustavo Ramírez will call it something else in private.
Philippe Keny wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Philippe Keny found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Vaduz went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Philippe Keny takes the afternoon — 9.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Philippe Keny provided it, and the 9.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Philippe Keny. 2‑1 against Vaduz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every Zurich game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Charleroi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Livano Comenencia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marcus Ingvartsen 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Zurich know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Nobody at Zurich will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Albian Rodriguez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Lugano defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Marcus Ingvartsen 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 Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
“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 Zurich, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruben Vargas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Livano Comenencia 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Zurich are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zurich will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
7.90, 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Philippe Keny. 3‑1 against Thun, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.44 — 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 Oct 2026
Philippe Keny was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zurich, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Marcus Ingvartsen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.12, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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 Lindrit Kamberi is on it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Albian Rodriguez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zurich dressing room was either.
Two goals and a mark of 9.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Marcus Ingvartsen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lindrit Kamberi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Philippe Keny. 3‑1 against Luzern, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Basel on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Two goals and a mark of 8.55 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Zurich will try again when the window opens; Thun may not be selling by then.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
Zurich asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michel Gavranovic 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ivo Elvedi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marcus Ingvartsen provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Zurich 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.
Zurich have gone to Thun 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.
9 goals in one match, Marcus Ingvartsen on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zurich and Grasshopper.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Cavaleiro 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Philippe Keny at his very best
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Ivan Cavaleiro at his very best
5Edition
The Zurich Herald
31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Philippe Keny takes the afternoon — 9.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Philippe Keny provided it, and the 9.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Ivan Cavaleiro on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zurich and Vaduz.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Manuel Baldé has just signed for Zurich, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zurich people have started saying his name in the past tense.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $2.4M has been paid because Marcus Ingvartsen is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Zurich asked and Sion said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Ivan Cavaleiro again, and this time the name on the line is St. Gallen. Zurich are listening politely and promising nothing.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mattersburg keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zurich and Lugano have settled on $7.4M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ivan Cavaleiro provided it, and the 9.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deal with San Diego Football Club 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.
Bledian Krasniqi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Cavaleiro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Ollie O'Neill again, and this time the name on the line is Feirense. Zurich are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lugano have kept their man, and Zurich go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zurich have done the hard part with Mattersburg, 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 Zurich 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Edimilson Schär 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Granit Elvedi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Edimilson Embolo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Umeh Emmanuel did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The 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 name of Yevgen Morozov has come up in conversations Zurich were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.