“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 The request is on a desk at Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Matteo Dagasso, marked 7.89, 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Juan Jesus 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.
Squad6 May 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Passador 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.
Mantova held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Venezia answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Venezia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 The request is on a desk at Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Seid Korać will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Venezia pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Venezia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia 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.
Bari next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Venezia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 dugout22 Apr 2030
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.” Gianmarco Toscano chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gaetano Oristanio scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Cosenza, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Passador 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.” Gianmarco Toscano after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Venezia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Venezia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
First, on 57 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Match6 Apr 2030
Gianluca Busio wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Gianluca Busio found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Juve Stabia went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Cannavò will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 8.24 — 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.
Simone Marsi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Apr 2030
6 new faces, and Venezia 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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Seid Korać will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Seid Korać has agreed terms with Udinese for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Venezia 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 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. Alvin Obinna Okoro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Passador 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. 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“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; Venezia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Venezia know it.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Juan Jesus 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.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Passador 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.” Gianmarco Toscano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad4 Mar 2030
5 new faces, and Venezia 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.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alvin Obinna Okoro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1 for Gianluca Busio, marked 7.88, 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.
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.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia 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 Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Marin Šverko 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.
Catanzaro wanted more than $230.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Matteo Dagasso was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alvin Obinna Okoro provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Cannavò will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AC Milan have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
“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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything was agreed with Cesena and then the doctor spoke. Venezia have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Venezia until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
AS Roma arrived with $14.6M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia 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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Lamine Fanne has gone, the accounts have $14.6M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sulayman Jallow has, at Venezia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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 7.78 for the rest of it.
The offer from Gubbio for Federico Tavernaro 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.
Benfica arrived with $13.8M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Thierry Rendall Correia has gone, the accounts have $13.8M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Lamine Fanne again, and this time the name on the line is Le Havre AC. Venezia are listening politely and promising nothing.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alvin Obinna Okoro has agreed terms with Empoli for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Juan Jesus 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.
Venezia have gone to Catanzaro with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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 Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Venezia will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Juan Jesus 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.
A conversation is coming this week. Venezia will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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. 118 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gianluca Busio. 3‑1 against Pisa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.13 — 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Venezia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMarin Šverko has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutLamine Fanne knocks on the manager's door
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia 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 Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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: Saad El Haddad. 1‑0 against Mantova, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Gianmarco Toscano could afford to be generous.
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.
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Kevin Cannavò 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.
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; Venezia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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. 146 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 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Matteo Dagasso 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.
8.17. 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. 154 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.
Juan Jesus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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: Gianluca Busio. 2‑0 against Juve Stabia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 7.57, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Gianmarco Toscano could afford to be generous.
162 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Jesus and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Venezia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Gianluca Busio signs something — a contract at Venezia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Venezia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Venezia, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gianmarco Toscano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Thierry Rendall Correia is on it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 116th minute. Avellino will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Karol Bednarek 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.
7 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antonio Casas. 1‑0 against Avellino, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A mark of 7.93, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
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.” Gianmarco Toscano kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutRedouane Halhal has become a man the manager trusts
1 for Lamine Fanne, marked 7.85, 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.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alvin Obinna Okoro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia 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 Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli 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; Venezia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Everybody at Venezia saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Nobody at Venezia 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Venezia has been clear about where Bautista La Licata stands, which is more than many ever get.
Two goals and a mark of 9.42 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Redouane Halhal scored, was marked 7.43, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Gianluca Busio scored, was marked 7.80, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia 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 Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianluca Busio provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Francesco Guidi obliged against Giana Erminio. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Venezia.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Francesco Guidi could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.59
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.59, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
7.80, 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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. Bautista La Licata 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.
Three points for Venezia, 1‑0 the final word against Catanzaro in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Redouane Halhal was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brando Dolfi has his answer from Venezia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Catanzaro wanted more than $300.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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.
Venezia asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Venezia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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 Davide Guarneri is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Gil Vicente for Armel Bella-Kotchap 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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Venezia close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 35 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
$300.0K on the table at Catanzaro. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli 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. Bologna have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
9 new faces, and Venezia 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Udinese for Gianluca Busio 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Venezia asked and Trento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Venezia have done the hard part with Sassuolo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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; Venezia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom27 Aug 2029
9 academy players handed senior numbers at Venezia
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Jesus 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Venezia, 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Udinese paid $970.0K and Venezia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Venezia asked and Spezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Venezia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I watch every Venezia game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bari runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Giovanni Daffara is in the works
“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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Livorno waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Atalanta is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Venezia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Zaragoza for Antonio Casas 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Venezia have done the hard part with Benevento, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Venezia offered $15.0K; Pisa said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lamine Fanne, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
9 new faces, and Venezia 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Mercado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AC Milan keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The offer went to Pisa this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Venezia asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Venezia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Trento have accepted the money. What Venezia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Matteo Dagasso 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trento have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Lecce is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Juan Jesus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 Venezia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Empoli paid $1.7M and Venezia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Juan Jesus 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.
$15.0K was the most the club would pay and Pisa were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
Venezia asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Armel Bella-Kotchap has his answer from Venezia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Virtus Entella paid $1.7M and Venezia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The deal with Genoa is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Mercado 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.
Juan Jesus 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.
Venezia asked and Catanzaro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Venezia had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Modena have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The chase for Pietro Passador ended with $800.0K changing hands and Pro Vercelli out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The deal with Palermo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Pietro Passador is living that version at Venezia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Add another name to the list: Pianese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Junior Ligue. The answer from Venezia has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and WSG Tirol waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 65 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The clubs have shaken hands with Pro Vercelli; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
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 7.82 for the rest of it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Add another name to the list: WSG Tirol have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lion Lauberbach. The answer from Venezia has not changed — yet.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia 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 Venezia heard it as anything else.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 8.11 — 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.
Ahmed Sidibé 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.
“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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Šverko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Juan Jesus 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 May 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 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.
The dugout21 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Gianmarco Toscano left the room before anybody could ask which.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Ligue will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianluca Busio provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Marked 7.35 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Sidibé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Venezia and Cagliari in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
2‑4 to Cagliari, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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.
Lion Lauberbach 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Šverko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Toma Bašić 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Venezia can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Gianmarco Toscano left the room before anybody could ask which.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Ligue will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Venezia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Venezia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
11 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.
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.
Ahmed Sidibé 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
8 new faces, and Venezia 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia 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 Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Venezia, and 4 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Venezia has been clear about where Redouane Halhal stands, which is more than many ever get.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 7.92 for the rest of it.
7.90, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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 8.97 — 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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Venezia had all but put away. Sampdoria will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Position 3, 54 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Juan Jesus 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.
Match17 Mar 2029
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Venezia. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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: Antonio Casas. 1‑0 against Avellino, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Antonio Casas was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I 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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Venezia, and 0 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Lion Lauberbach 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marin Šverko has his answer from Venezia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Sidibé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Venezia, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 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. Marin Šverko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Südtirol had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Toma Bašić was at the centre of it, Bari were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 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 Venezia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
1 for Gianluca Busio, marked 7.89, 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AlbinoLeffe waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Torres for Ahmed Sidibé 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Agustín Faillace has, at Venezia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything 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.
Venezia asked and Genoa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Venezia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Venezia until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Mattia Gagliano 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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.
Add another name to the list: Fiorentina have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matteo Dagasso. The answer from Venezia has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Altamura had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Juan Jesus 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.
$230.0K on the table at Trento. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Pietrelli 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Venezia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Venezia and AC Milan have settled on $89.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Sidibé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Venezia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AC Milan, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Livorno waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Napoli have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lazio waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Venezia have gone to Lecce with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Seid Korać 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thierry Rendall Correia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Venezia asked and Udinese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Position 2, 30 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Venezia had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Juan Jesus 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 Jan 2029
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thierry Rendall Correia 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Venezia has been clear about where Thierry Rendall Correia stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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 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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Juan Jesus 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia 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 Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thierry Rendall Correia 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.
Lion Lauberbach 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. 32 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thierry Rendall Correia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.80, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Venezia has been clear about where Richie Sagrado stands, which is more than many ever get.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.91, and 2 involvements.
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.
1 for Toma Bašić, marked 7.80, 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.
Daniel Fila 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 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thierry Rendall Correia 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.
8.51. 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.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Daniel Fila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Jesus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thierry Rendall Correia 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 at Venezia 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Monza in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Ligue will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1 for Toma Bašić, marked 7.82, 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.
1 for Gianluca Busio, marked 7.75, 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Juan Jesus 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thierry Rendall Correia 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. Junior Ligue 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thierry Rendall Correia 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gianmarco Toscano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Daniel Fila
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Richie Sagrado 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.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Gianmarco Toscano on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alessandro Pietrelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Ligue will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Venezia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Venezia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richie Sagrado 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Venezia told Antonio Casas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alessandro Pietrelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Cheick Conde is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Palermo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Daniel Fila 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 Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Venezia told Gianluca Busio something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Venezia has been clear about where Diego Mercado stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
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.” Gianmarco Toscano, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Juan Jesus 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Venezia, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Richie Sagrado
Venezia interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Gianmarco Toscano keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7 goals in one match, Federico Tavernaro on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Venezia and Pineto.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Venezia 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 Alessandro Pietrelli 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: Daniel Fila. 1‑0 against Catanzaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Davide Guarneri had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything 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.
11 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Cheick Conde has his answer from Venezia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 Venezia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Venezia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Venezia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 19 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Venezia will try again when the window opens; Lecce may not be selling by then.
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 offer from SV Ried for Armel Bella-Kotchap 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 have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Venezia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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; Venezia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Richie Sagrado 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 name of Davide Guarneri has come up in conversations Venezia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Toma Bašić had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Alcione Milano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Pescara have accepted the money. What Venezia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thierry Rendall Correia 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Avellino for Andrea Adorante 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 have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Venezia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Pescara paid $2.5M and Venezia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
$70.0K was the most the club would pay and Hellas Verona were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows 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 Venezia 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 Richie Sagrado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 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.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Juan Jesus 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.
$70.0K on the table at Hellas Verona. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 Venezia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lumezzane waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Venezia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia 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 Venezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Venezia know it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Venezia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Andrea Adorante and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Casas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Venezia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pescara have kept their man, and Venezia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Juan Jesus and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Joël Schingtienne again, and this time the name on the line is Vicenza. Venezia are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pietrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Virtus Entella, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Venezia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Venezia heard it as anything else.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alessandro Plizzari has his answer from Venezia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Venezia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Vis Pesaro had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from Grazer AK for Toma Bašić 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Thierry Rendall Correia 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.
Venezia asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Venezia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Venezia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
20 shut-outs in 34 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Alessandro Plizzari has been having a lot of them.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Venezia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Gubbio for Matteo Grandi 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 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.
The deal with Inter is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Juan Jesus 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.
Venezia asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Venezia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Venezia can pretend not to have heard.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 49 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Parma spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lorenzo Montipò was one of the reasons people came, and $3.5M does not replace that by itself.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.