Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting CP B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rafael Besugo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sporting CP B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayhan Momade will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting CP B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Eduardo Felicíssimo 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Justo signs something — a contract at Sporting CP B or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dias 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 never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sporting CP B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Position 14 on 38 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sporting CP B can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sporting CP B, another week without a signature from Rafael Besugo.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting CP B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Sporting CP B will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Lucas Taibo will call it something else in private.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayhan Momade will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting CP B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑2 to Portimonense, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Sporting CP B will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Beat anybody else and it is three points. Beat them, with his name on it, and it is a year of bragging rights for Sporting CP B and a story that will outlast his contract.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Taibo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Daniel Fonseca, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sporting CP B can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Porto B next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Salvador Blopá is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guilherme Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting CP B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Eduardo Felicíssimo 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dias is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Eduardo Felicíssimo is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Samuel Justo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sporting CP B needing him to play as if none of it matters.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sporting CP B could ask drops and the wages Rafael Besugo can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutVíctor Guzmán knocks on the manager’s door
SquadQuestions about Lucas Anjos on the training pitch
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting CP B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Lucas Taibo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting CP B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sporting CP B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Rodrigo Dias
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sporting CP B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Fonseca after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The fine is internal, the amount is nobody's business, and the fact that everybody at Sporting CP B knows about it by lunchtime is exactly the point of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Lucas Taibo
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting CP B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sporting CP B know it.
Rodrigo Dias 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Sporting CP B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Salvador Blopá, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting CP B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Manuel Lamúria 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting CP B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Justo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Sporting CP B will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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 Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Chris Grombahi, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.98
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Justo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafael Besugo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The name of Francisco Silva has come up in conversations Sporting CP B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Eduardo Felicíssimo 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 2027
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guilherme Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting CP B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Add another name to the list: Lusitano Évora have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eduardo Felicíssimo. The answer from Sporting CP B has not changed — yet.
Rodrigo Dias and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Lucas Taibo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Marco 09 had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting CP B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes Sporting CP B will be judged on one thing only.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Salvador Blopá had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
At 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lucas Anjos. 1‑0 against Pacos de Ferreira, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Mafra have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Salvador Blopá. The answer from Sporting CP B has not changed — yet.
1 for Rafael Besugo, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“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 Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paulo Cardoso and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years.
Paulo Cardoso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The match ball belongs to Samuel Justo, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Salvador Blopá, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Paulo Cardoso 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Justo. 3‑1 against Lusitânia Lourosa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.54 — 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.
0‑3 to Oliveirense, 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulo Cardoso is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Sporting CP B dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something 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 Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodrigo Rodrigues and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Daniel Fonseca left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Sporting CP B will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Rodrigo Dias 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.
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Sporting CP B had all but put away. Porto B will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Sporting CP B have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Lucas Anjos
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Lucas Anjos has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sporting CP B have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sporting CP B has been clear about where Manuel Lamúria stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Salvador Blopá is on it.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Moncef Zekri did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Anjos has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Farense, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dias 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 fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes Sporting CP B will be judged on one thing only.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Daniel Fonseca on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 8.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Paulo Cardoso, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Maritimo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Moncef Zekri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Paulo Cardoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Lucas Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Sporting CP B will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Paulo Cardoso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sporting CP B, another week without a signature from Rafael Besugo.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Lucas Anjos has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Feirense will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sporting CP B were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Dias, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Anjos has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dias 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 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.
20 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francisco Silva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Moncef Zekri
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something 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 Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Francisco Silva knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Francisco Silva's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Rodrigo Dias 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
SquadWords at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Paulo Cardoso 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Fonseca after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Salvador Blopá is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Bruno Ramos has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
20 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daniel Fonseca after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Penafiel? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.51 for the rest of it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulo Cardoso is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Paulo Cardoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rodrigo Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Eduardo Felicíssimo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Eduardo Felicíssimo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daniel Fonseca after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Lucas Dias falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The phone has started ringing about João Muniz again, and this time the name on the line is Leixões. Sporting CP B are listening politely and promising nothing.
The deal that would have taken Guilherme Silva to Mafra has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sporting CP B with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Eduardo Felicíssimo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Benfica B next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dias 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Guilherme Pires has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sporting CP B have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Oliveirense had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salvador Blopá did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Salvador Blopá. 1‑0 against Leiria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
21 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Moncef Zekri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Daniel Fonseca could afford to be generous.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sporting CP B people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting CP B 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 Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daniel Fonseca after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Dias 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Leiria.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ghazl El Mahalla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sporting CP B is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Felgueiras for David Moreira 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.
The phone has started ringing about Salvador Blopá again, and this time the name on the line is Feirense. Sporting CP B are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moncef Zekri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
João Muniz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mateo Tanlongo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Paulo Cardoso 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.
61 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
23 new faces, and Sporting CP B are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The 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 Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.