The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Volga will replay every second of the added time for a week.
4 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.
The offer from Dinamo Vladivostok for Dmitry Kalaida 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.
Add another name to the list: Vitebsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bojan Roganović. The answer from Torpedo Moscow has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.44
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.44, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
Alexandr Yushin 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 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Moscow have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vladislav Shitov. 2‑0 against SKA Khabarovsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torpedo Moscow people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Rostislav Soldatenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.87, 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.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Rostislav Soldatenko 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
“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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Mario Ćurić, marked 7.50, 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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Rostislav Soldatenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
7.94, 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Dmitry Tsypchenko and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout18 Jan 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.” Oleg Shuvalov, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
3 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Fakel the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Torpedo Moscow will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Daniil Utkin takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Utkin provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Rostislav Soldatenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
Alexandr Yushin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
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.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.76, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“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 Torpedo Moscow know it.
3‑0, and Mario Ćurić took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Torpedo Moscow tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Up for the corner, and Mario Ćurić delivers — 7.94
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mario Ćurić scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.78
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Daniil Utkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Oleg Shuvalov could afford to be generous.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Borodin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Vladislav Shitov has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
In brief
The dugoutArtur Sagitov has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Mario Ćurić 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.43 — 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.
Position 8, 26 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Oleg Shuvalov kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
2 behind and going nowhere, until Alexey Kashtanov decided otherwise. Chelyabinsk had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexey Kashtanov provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Rostislav Soldatenko 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexey Kashtanov. 3‑2 against Chelyabinsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
8.68. 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jonathan Okoronkwo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladislav Shitov 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.
“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 Torpedo Moscow know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mario Ćurić 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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Chardi Landu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oleg Shuvalov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Alexandr Yushin 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mikhail Volkov has his answer from Torpedo Moscow; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Rodina next, and one man in the Torpedo Moscow dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Torpedo Moscow will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Torpedo Moscow are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
1 for Daniil Utkin, marked 7.73, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Rostislav Soldatenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexey Kashtanov. 2‑1 against KAMAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mario Ćurić 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Chardi Landu 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 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Torpedo Moscow are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Borodin 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 warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladislav Shitov 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.
Marked 7.56. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Oleg Shuvalov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Daniil Utkin
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Torpedo Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
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.
Volga next, and one man in the Torpedo Moscow dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Daniil Shamkin’s exile
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
1 for Daniil Utkin, marked 7.97, 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.
“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; Torpedo Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Rostislav Soldatenko 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mario Ćurić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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.
1 for Mario Ćurić, marked 7.47, 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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
At 21 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 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rostislav Soldatenko, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Torpedo Moscow 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oleg Shuvalov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Mario Ćurić 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.” Oleg Shuvalov after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Alexey Kashtanov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chernomorets in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.77
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Torpedo Moscow close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mario Ćurić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Oleg Shuvalov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Okoronkwo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Borussia Dortmund have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torpedo Moscow has been clear about where Alexey Kashtanov stands, which is more than many ever get.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Torpedo Moscow are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Okoronkwo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Crvena Zvezda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
10 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.
“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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Oleg Shuvalov chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Chances created: 12. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alexey Kashtanov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
1 for Mario Ćurić, marked 7.37, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gleb Shevchenko 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oleg Shuvalov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Sokol spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The offer from BSK Bijelo Brdo for Mario Ćurić 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Mario Ćurić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Maksim Fokin has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maksim Platonov 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. Yegor Arkhipov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Torpedo Moscow 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.
Torpedo Moscow have made the call to Besiktas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Oleg Shuvalov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.