Marked for Johan Rojas
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Lucas Ocampos 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.
Match5 Aug 2028
Nobody wants to play Monterrey right now
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.
Market7 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergio Barreto and Monterrey agree another 4 years.
Match5 Aug 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Diego Rossi. 3‑2 against Morelia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
A performance of 9.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jun 2028
Lucas Ocampos 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 Jun 2028
139 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market26 Jun 2028
The Ali Ávila conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sport Recife will make the call about Ali Ávila this week. Monterrey have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market26 Jun 2028
The Fidel Ambríz story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fidel Ambríz signs something — a contract at Monterrey or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A season on the outside for Johan Rojas
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Monterrey has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market26 Jun 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ali Ávila may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
Bruno Amione 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.
Squad15 May 2028
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alberto Ocejo, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
Johan Rojas 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 Santos Laguna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 May 2028
The Ramiro Sordo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramiro Sordo signs something — a contract at Santos Laguna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch15 May 2028
The goals keep arriving from Tahiel Jiménez’s exile
5 goals in 9 games at DC United — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Santos Laguna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Monterrey this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stefan Medina commits to Monterrey for another 2 years.
Market8 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ricardo Chávez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
Alan Franco 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cristian Dájome and Santos Laguna agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jordan Carrillo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
Lucas Ocampos 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.
Market1 May 2028
Sergio Barreto wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Monterrey hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Loan watch1 May 2028
“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 Monterrey, and 2 appearances in 40 say he has earned the hearing.
Loan watch1 May 2028
34 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad1 May 2028
Stefan Medina 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.
Market1 May 2028
The Fidel Ambríz story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fidel Ambríz signs something — a contract at Monterrey or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
Alan Franco 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Alan Franco
“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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Johan Rojas 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
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 37, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad28 Feb 2028
11 goals and a season average of 7.51. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Bruno Amione 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 Santos Laguna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Feb 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Alan Franco
“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 ratings28 Feb 2028
Shots: 12, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Loan watch28 Feb 2028
“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 Santos Laguna, and 6 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
The afternoon belonged to Pedro Aquino
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Feb 2028
There were 7 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
José Paradela is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.48 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Alan Franco 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 Santos Laguna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Feb 2028
It finished 3‑1, and it was Alberto Ocejo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Santos Laguna.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Brandt Bronico, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Marked 8.42 — 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
The Ramiro Sordo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramiro Sordo signs something — a contract at Santos Laguna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Market7 Feb 2028
The Leon deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Paulo Filho reports back to Santos Laguna with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Alan Franco 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 Santos Laguna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Feb 2028
The shirt still fits. Efrain Moreno is back at Santos Laguna, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Defences have started doubling up on José Paradela
12 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Ramiro Sordo 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.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match5 Feb 2028
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 May 2027
0‑1 against Nautico, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market24 May 2027
Brenner puts it in writing
“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 Vasco da Gama, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Shots: 15, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad24 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 Vasco da Gama this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 May 2027
1‑3 to Santos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Paulo Henrique
“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 ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Nobody left the Vasco da Gama dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Brenner puts it in writing
“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 Vasco da Gama, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Paulo Henrique 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The Brenner talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vasco da Gama know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.