Marked for Everardo López
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 40 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Match25 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Adel Taarabt 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Lars Veldwijk
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al Wasl came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Emirates Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Sep 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Panajot Qirko lets one through his hands
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
Adel Taarabt 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 Emirates Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Emirates Club know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Emirates Club would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market9 Aug 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Everardo López arrives from Toluca with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Leandrinho has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Leandrinho keeps the shirt for now, at Emirates Club's convenience rather than his own.
Market9 Aug 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Ibrahim Al-Shuail arrives at Emirates Club with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Aug 2027
There were 9 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Whatever happens, Toluca do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market2 Aug 2027
The name of Everardo López has come up in conversations Toluca were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Alexis Vega 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 Toluca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A performance of 9.93 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match31 Jul 2027
Toluca get the job done against Atlas
A 3‑2 win over Atlas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Aug 2027
No hiding place for Paulinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paulinho, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.96, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Toluca
Alexis Vega 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Dorados are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Toluca will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market12 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Pereira signs something — a contract at Toluca or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market12 Jul 2027
Nobody at Toluca has picked up the phone to Pável Pérez
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Somebody is after Paulinho’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Paulinho suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Toluca have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom31 May 2027
Toluca are in Europe
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.
Squad31 May 2027
Alexis Vega is named among the best
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. Toluca will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Toluca
Mauricio Isais 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
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dorados can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
“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
Market10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Manuel Pérez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dorados have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 May 2027
Everardo López 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
Uneasy
Match26 Apr 2027
Dorados sink to position 17
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Everardo López 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Jonathan Vaal asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Isaías Violante: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Toluca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Alexis Vega 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 Toluca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“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 Toluca, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Pável Pérez
“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.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Toluca know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Alexis Vega keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Alexis Vega plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Everardo López was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Apr 2027
César Castillo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and César Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Everardo López was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of José Eulogio
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Luis Arcadio García. Dorados will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Mar 2027
Dorados are in real trouble now
Position 17, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dorados can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dorados may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Toluca may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Alexis Vega 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 Toluca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hugo González, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Mar 2027
“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 Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match13 Mar 2027
6 matches without a win for Dorados
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Dorados are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Marked 8.51 — 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Miguel Aguilar
“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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Guadalajara leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The team sheet said everything about Eduardo Mustre
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 Eduardo Mustre.
Squad15 Mar 2027
George Corral knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dorados, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
5.79 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Dorados
5 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luis Arcadio García commits to Dorados for another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Everardo López 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Everardo López, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Fabricio Pérez Espósito will call it something else in private.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Feb 2027
Morelia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Josué Reyes 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; Josué Reyes will call it something else in private.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dorados, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 5.56, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 5.65, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
José Eulogio 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 Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Feb 2027
Pachuca left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Isais
“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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Dorados
Position 17 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Three points for Dorados, 1‑0 the final word against Puebla in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A defender's afternoon for Josué Reyes
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Alan Acosta 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; Alan Acosta will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alexis Vega is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.63 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alexis Vega 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 Toluca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Dorados have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Everardo López. The answer from Toluca has not changed — yet.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexis Vega. 2‑1 against Morelia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.95, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.77, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Bruno Méndez gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alexis Vega is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.58 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alexis Vega 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 Toluca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
6 unbeaten for Toluca
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Toluca did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Nov 2026
Toluca get the job done against Atlas
A 2‑1 win over Atlas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
223% of the income goes out in wages at Toluca
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
In brief
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The terraces
Everybody has an opinion about Paulinho
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Nicolás Castro
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Player ratings
Luan leaves them behind him
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexis Vega and Toluca agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Toluca
Alexis Vega 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Toluca get the job done against Tigres
A 5‑4 win over Tigres, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Toluca have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.