Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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.
8.33. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Iñaki Larthirigoyen and Mirassol agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Alan Velasco 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad23 Aug 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
6 goals in one match, David Nogueira on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mirassol and Bragantino.
Santiago Vallecilla 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 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mirassol and Criciuma, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sebastián Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.81 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Internacional moved on, Alexandre Cardoso reports back to Mirassol, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Duarte Simoes 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Remis wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Nautico moved on, Alisson Santos reports back to Mirassol, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Ramírez wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Alan Velasco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Internacional will make the call about Alexandre Cardoso this week. Mirassol have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol 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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Riccieli has agreed terms with Internacional for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. José Sosa has just signed for Mirassol, and for once the answer mattered.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.99 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
7.86, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Beaten 3‑5, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Jul 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mirassol and Vasco da Gama in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Brenner has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Mirassol have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.23 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mirassol heard it as anything else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramon and Mirassol agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Jul 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Santiago Vallecilla 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 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.57 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 Mirassol 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Mirassol and Atletico Goianiense, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marked 8.71 — 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.
8.64. 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 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.44 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Sebastián Ramírez 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 Jun 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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: Sebastián Ramírez. 3‑1 against Botafogo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The name of Alisson Santos has come up in conversations Mirassol were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mirassol and Corinthians in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Mirassol rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Cruzeiro had no answer to any of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.89 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Alan Velasco 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastián Vargas and Mirassol agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Jun 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Remis wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Ramírez wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad24 May 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Brunet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sebastián Vargas 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 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.67 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad10 May 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. São Paulo spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Alan Velasco
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
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.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
344 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Alan Velasco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Santa Cruz tried to reorganise, Mirassol did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Market26 Apr 2038
Mirassol may not be able to give Cauê what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Cauê wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Nogueira provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.54 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alan Velasco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Mirassol can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mirassol heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Alan Velasco is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mirassol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
In brief
SquadWords at Mirassol training over how hard people work
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mirassol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Alan Velasco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad15 Feb 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mirassol, another week without a signature from Alan Velasco.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alan Velasco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mirassol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sebastián Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Brunet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Remis wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Ramírez wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Alan Velasco 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.
Squad18 Jan 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 Mirassol 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 Mirassol 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fábio Araujo has just signed for Mirassol, and for once the answer mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Alan Velasco 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Agustín Córdoba scored, and precious little else went right: 4‑5 to Bragantino, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad4 Jan 2038
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The fee is $630.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Atletico Goianiense drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nahuel Brunet 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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.
Atlético Mineiro will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Joaquín Rivero has pre-agreed a move to Mirassol, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Nogueira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Agustín Córdoba provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Diego Sánchez has agreed terms with Fortaleza for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next 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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
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 Mirassol 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.
Paysandu will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Víctor Brid has pre-agreed a move to Mirassol, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. José Pereira has agreed terms with Oeste for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Sebastián Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.53 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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Remis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
8.46. 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.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.09 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Villalobos. 2‑1 against Oeste, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Oeste tried to reorganise, Mirassol did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mirassol, another week without a signature from Santiago Vallecilla.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
28 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastián Vargas 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 words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Manuel Remis 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.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mirassol could ask drops and the wages Manuel Remis can ask rise.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Remis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.92 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Market19 Oct 2037
Mirassol may not be able to give Cauê what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Cauê wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.67 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mirassol heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
37 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8.46. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mirassol and Santos in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings28 Sep 2037
Agustín Córdoba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
36 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Sebastián Ramírez 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 words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
0‑3 to Atlético Mineiro, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Alisson Santos
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 46 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.19 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.56 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iñaki Larthirigoyen provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mirassol and Criciuma in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Criciuma left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings17 Aug 2037
Agustín Córdoba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. André Santos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
325 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Palmeiras the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Mirassol will enjoy reviewing.
The offer from Paysandu for Kauã 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.68 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 8.23 — 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.
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 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Remis wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
8.88. 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
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 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Ramírez wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luís Cavalcante is living that version at Mirassol, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
35 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take 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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.03 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alisson Santos provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.42 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
92 minutes played. Agustín Villalobos found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Botafogo went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Paysandu for Kauã 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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.67 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
28 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take 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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jun 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.57 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
17 combined actions and 6.41. 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.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.95 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 9.41 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
“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 Mirassol, 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 Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Douglas Souza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Jun 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol 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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Marked 8.99 — 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.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
7 goals in one match, David Nogueira on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mirassol and São Paulo.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.89 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Douglas Souza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 May 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 Mirassol, another week without a signature from Manuel Remis.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.53 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
A 2‑0 win over Atlético Mineiro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.68 — 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.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.34 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Apr 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Boardroom20 Apr 2037
17 academy players handed senior numbers at Mirassol
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. Daniel Nardo 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. Guilherme Rocha is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Mirassol heard it as anything else.
Sebastián Vargas 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Apr 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kauã signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
BoardroomThe Mirassol production line keeps running
Sebastián Vargas 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
SquadAntonio Galeano falls out with a teammate over standards
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 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.
Santiago Vallecilla 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Esteban Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Remis wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Sebastián Vargas 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
SquadAntonio Galeano falls out with a teammate over standards
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Ramírez wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marquinhos Cipriano and Mirassol agree another 2 years.
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.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pablo Lúcio wants continental football; whether Mirassol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Feb 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Esteban Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sebastián Vargas 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
SquadAntonio Galeano falls out with a teammate over standards
Squad8 new faces, and Mirassol are still learning each other
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Feb 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Santiago Vallecilla 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jan 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Sebastián Vargas 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 general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
9 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jan 2037
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Boa will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Rodrigo Peñaloza has pre-agreed a move to Mirassol, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
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.
Position 2, 36 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Mirassol, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Mathematically certain, and nobody in this town is going to bed early. Whatever else happened this season, it finishes a division above where it started.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cacá and Mirassol agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 2, 36 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Rodrigues 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mirassol has been clear about where Kauã stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Manuel Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Santiago Vallecilla is living that version at Mirassol, and it tends to show in the first month.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Mirassol training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mirassol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Manuel Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.