Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The chase for Tsuyoshi Watanabe ended with $5.2M changing hands and Feyenoord out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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 shirt still fits. Quincy Bergwijn is back at Willem II, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jordy Babel is a Willem II player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Teun Malen is a Willem II player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Marked 8.90 — 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Willem II can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Willem II know it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Devin Haen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Willem II will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Devin Haen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.11 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Willem II know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amine Lachkar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bright van Dijk is 18, and Willem II have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Willem II, another week without a signature from Amine Lachkar.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amine Lachkar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Justin Hoogma was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Groningen paid $500.0K and Willem II took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The offer from Feyenoord for Juan Dinenno 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 Willem II they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Bamba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.11 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Willem II know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thomas Verheydt trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Oliver Edvardsen 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.
17 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like 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 Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Willem II, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.11 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Willem II know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 38 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Oliver Edvardsen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Samuel Bamba will call it something else in private.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Jayden Spier
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Willem II can pretend not to have heard.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Thomas Didillon-Hödl knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Juan Dinenno
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.11, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Marked 8.50 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Willem II 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 Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.02 — 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.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Oliver Edvardsen arrives from Ajax with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Devin Haen 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Shots: 8. 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.
Justin Hoogma was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.70 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Dinenno. 1‑0 against Twente, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The name of Luuk Koppert has come up in conversations Willem II were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The offer from Vitesse for Siegert Baartmans 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.
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.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Uriël Van Aalst. 3‑2 against Zwolle, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.82 — 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.
Marked 8.48 — 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.
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. Willem II will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Dinenno. 1‑0 against NEC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 20, Anass Zarrouk has come through every age group this club has, and now watches a borrowed player of much the same level start every week. An academy notices these things, and so do the parents in the stand.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Juan Dinenno
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Marked 8.37 — 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.
Devin Haen 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.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Willem II 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 Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Dinenno. 2‑1 against ADO Den Haag, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.64 — 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.
Marked 8.40 — 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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Nick Doodeman.
“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; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Amine Lachkar will call it something else in private.
In brief
Boardroom99% of the income goes out in wages at Willem II
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Kenzo Riedewald obliged against Vitesse. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Willem II.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Marked 9.30 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Samuel Bamba.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gijs Besselink trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Dinenno. 2‑0 against PSV, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.63 — 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Devin Haen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Bamba. 1‑0 against HJK, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Willem II pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Justin Hoogma was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Willem II, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Marked 9.51 — 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Marked 8.75 — 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alessandro Ciranni.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Devin Haen 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 defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Marked 8.89 — 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Willem II can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Willem II have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Juan Dinenno could not do
“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 Willem II, 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 Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 Willem II, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee is $2.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Deportivo Cali drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20, and nobody at Willem II signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Still no offer on the table, and Jari Schuurman’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Didillon-Hödl and Willem II agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Justin Hoogma’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Amine Et-Taïbi has his answer from Willem II; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Devin Haen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.