87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valencia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
11 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.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Stole Dimitrievski: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valencia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
In brief
Player ratingsThe kick that got away from Ryunosuke Sato
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valencia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stole Dimitrievski and Valencia agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Hugo Duro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mouctar Diakhaby scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The offer from Rayo Vallecano for Ryunosuke Sato 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.
Luis Rioja 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Umar Sadiq has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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.
Antonio Rüdiger arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valencia 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 Valencia 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.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Valencia have gone and got theirs early.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valencia, another week without a signature from Aliou Dieng.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Marc Vidal
41 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates 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 Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Hugo Duro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
José Gayà 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
Arnaut Danjuma 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.
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting César Tárrega's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at Valencia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jonás Luna signs something — a contract at Valencia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Valencia $300.0K. Filip Ugrinić left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Villarreal? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jonás Luna signs something — a contract at Valencia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
Player ratingsCésar Tárrega spends the afternoon fouling
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valencia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Luis Rioja 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 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jonás Luna signs something — a contract at Valencia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Jonás Luna, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valencia 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 Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valencia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valencia can pretend not to have heard.
Arnaut Danjuma 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valencia told Arnaut Danjuma something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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.
Arnaut Danjuma 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Guido Rodríguez wants continental football; whether Valencia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Javi Guerra, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guido Rodríguez 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 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.
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.
Unai Núñez 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Copete, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Renzo Saravia falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jonás Luna signs something — a contract at Valencia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Luis Rioja 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Abel Amaya has just signed for Valencia, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Espanyol? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Words at Valencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaut Danjuma 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Mouctar Diakhaby's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Julian Valencia is living that version at Valencia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Nobody at the club will say out loud who this signing is for, which is how you know exactly who it is for. Julian Valencia has been brought in to take a shirt somebody is still wearing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Valencia can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Álex Arce is living that version at Valencia, and it tends to show in the first 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 Valencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A squad is not eleven players and a wish. Álex Arce arrives from Independiente Rivadavia to make the number up properly, and the value of that will be argued about in March rather than today.
The phone has started ringing about Luciano Cosentino again, and this time the name on the line is Lecce. Wanderers are listening politely and promising nothing.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nahuel Furtado wants continental football; whether Wanderers can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nahuel Furtado 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
José Alberti falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.