Marked for Leonardo Vargas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Jesús Isijara damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Marvin Piñón out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chiapas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Vargas and Chiapas agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
At 28 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Chiapas academy
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Market5 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until José Hernández signs something — a contract at Chiapas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jesús Isijara damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Marvin Piñón breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $620.0K sale of Diego Abella
He is going to Veracruz, the club has $620.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market28 Jun 2027
The chase for Leonardo Vargas ended with $620.0K changing hands and Dorados out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jesús Serrato is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The fee is $190.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Atlas drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergio Ceballos
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dorados lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Jun 2027
$620.0K from Chiapas for Leonardo Vargas. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market28 Jun 2027
Michael Pérez 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 Dorados can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Dorados sell a favourite for $620.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Leonardo Vargas was one of the reasons people came, and $620.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Geonathan Barrera is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Miguel Vega 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergio Ceballos
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dorados lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market14 Jun 2027
Dorados sell their best player to Toluca
$1.1M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Market14 Jun 2027
Chiapas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Dorados did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 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.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Dorados sell a favourite for $1.1M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Salvador Manríquez was one of the reasons people came, and $1.1M does not replace that by itself.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Rubén Arellano is a better footballer than he was
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Sergio Ceballos damages knee ligaments — 134 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Dylan Guajardo sold
Pumas UNAM arrived with $560.0K 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.
Market7 Jun 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $560.0K sale of Dylan Guajardo
He is going to Pumas UNAM, the club has $560.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of Salvador Manríquez has come up in conversations Dorados were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Luis Arcadio García 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Miguel Vega 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.
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
Helinho 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Jaime Gómez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Helinho 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Juan Chavira gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Juan Chavira has just signed for Dorados, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Elías Hernández out for 26 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dorados will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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
4 matches without a win for Dorados
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Dorados are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Helinho 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Miguel Vega 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
3 matches without a goal for Dorados
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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Helinho
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Elías Hernández out for 49 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dorados will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Helinho 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
Jaime Gómez 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Chiapas left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Helinho 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime Gómez 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Dorados
26 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Jan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Jaime Gómez 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A move Julio Pérez would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Julio Pérez is living that version at Dorados, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Miguel Vega 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Cruz Azul left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market18 Jan 2027
Dorados bring in an old head
Fernando Marquez is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Market18 Jan 2027
Dorados shop where it costs nothing
Julio Pérez signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Dorados's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dorados has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Edson Gutiérrez: 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Miguel 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 Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime Gómez 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Dorados
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Dorados can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
18 matches without a win for Dorados
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Dorados are no longer polite ones.
Market23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Miguel 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 Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market23 Nov 2026
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Osciel De La Cruz is a Dorados player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Match21 Nov 2026
Club America left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Ceballos 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Pérez, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dorados told Elías Hernández something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Off the bench and decisive: Lucas Suárez
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Dorados were going nowhere until he came on.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Dorados's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dorados has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 Oct 2026
“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.
Match24 Oct 2026
8 matches without a goal for Dorados
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dorados may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jaime Gómez 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 Oct 2026
Miguel Vega 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Dorados's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dorados has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Miguel 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Dorados
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Cruz Azul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sergio Ceballos 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edson Gutiérrez commits to Dorados for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Queretaro left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edson Gutiérrez, and the manager let it.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Jhan Rengifo has come up in conversations Dorados were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market3 Aug 2026
Alan Ramos told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alan Ramos has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Dorados.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Leonardo Vargas’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
David Osuna 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.