Marked for Ramires
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jun 2029
No end in sight to Alianza Atletico's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alianza Atletico has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Pressure builds in the Alianza Atletico boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
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.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Jul 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franco Coronel and Alianza Atletico agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Atletico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Nothing got past Ramires
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 May 2029
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Alianza Atletico are no longer polite ones.
Market28 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Atletico can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 May 2029
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.
Squad28 May 2029
Germán Díaz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Atletico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
Román Suárez left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Román Suárez will call it something else in private.
Squad28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Jesús Mendieta
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Alianza Atletico is running low.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alianza Atletico may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Germán Díaz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Atletico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
Matías Gallo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Atletico can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer from Cienciano for Matías Gallo 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Germán Díaz 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Feb 2028
Ramires keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alianza Atletico may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Germán Díaz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Atletico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Feb 2028
2‑3 to Melgar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Marked 8.44 — 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anthony Gordillo, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.