Metta/LU U18

Latvian Virsliga U18
17 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process
11 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Néstor Canelón out for 84 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metta/LU will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Aleksandrs Gabovs is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Alvis Jurkovskis 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.

In brief

Back issues
10 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Néstor Canelón out for 91 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metta/LU will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Home is on Anders Kristiansen's mind

“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; Metta/LU are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

Néstor Canelón in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

9 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Néstor Canelón out for 98 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metta/LU will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Néstor Canelón 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.

Squad

Words at Metta/LU training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Scremin 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.

In brief

8 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Néstor Canelón breaks a bone — 106 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Néstor Canelón in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Metta/LU add cover with Patrik Opalek

It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Patrik Opalek is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.

In brief

7 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Néstor Canelón breaks a bone — 113 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Alvis Jurkovskis 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.

Boardroom

Metta/LU beat the market to Danila Patijčuks from Liepaja

Liepaja will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Danila Patijčuks has pre-agreed a move to Metta/LU, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Metta/LU training over how hard people work
  • Squad 15 new faces, and Metta/LU are still learning each other
6 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Néstor Canelón breaks a bone — 120 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Néstor Canelón in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Gianluca Scremin 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mesut Yusuf out for 48 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metta/LU will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Néstor Canelón 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.

Squad

Ivo Minkevičs 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Hugo Jesse asks to leave Metta/LU

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Saymah Kamara 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.

Squad

Gianluca Scremin 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.

In brief

3 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Metta/LU bow out of the cup

Liepaja go through and Metta/LU go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 23 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

The terraces

A cup hiding at Liepaja leaves Metta/LU explaining themselves

0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.

Player ratings

A chastening introduction for Roberts Jagodinskis — 5.67

It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.67 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.

Squad

Georgy Tikhomirov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Georgy Tikhomirov and Metta/LU agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Néstor Canelón 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.

Squad

Words at Metta/LU training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Scremin 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.

Squad

Örken Makhan gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Metta/LU dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

2 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Néstor Canelón 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.

Squad

Ivo Minkevičs 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.

Squad

Néstor Canelón has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Metta/LU know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Metta/LU

8 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.

Market

The clock runs on Saymah Kamara's contract

48 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.

Market

Hugo Jesse is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Metta/LU has been clear about where Hugo Jesse stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

1 Edition

The Metta/LU Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Daniils Ulimbaševs signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniils Ulimbaševs and Metta/LU agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Metta/LU

Ali Timurcioğlu 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.

Squad

Gianluca Scremin 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Anders Kristiansen

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Metta/LU will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Market

Still no ink between Metta/LU and Mesut Yusuf

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Metta/LU, another week without a signature from Mesut Yusuf.

Market

49 months and counting on Mahamud Abdul Karimu

Still no offer on the table, and Mahamud Abdul Karimu’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

In brief