Marked for Ezequiel Orbe
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A muscle injury and 14 days out for René López
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Morelia will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Morelia
René López and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rômulo 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Dorados paid $81.0K and Morelia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Morelia asked and Guadalajara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match22 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
Francisco Ramirez 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
5 matches without a win for Morelia
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Morelia
Víctor Milke and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Norberto Bedolla 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
Monterrey left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch27 Dec 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 Morelia, and 5 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastian Moreno after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arturo Palma, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Kevin Salazar 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Santos Laguna, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Morelia
Uziel García and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Morelia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rômulo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Tomás Sives 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Doors closed at Morelia
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“I watch every Morelia game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Santos Laguna runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Sebastian Moreno left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market29 Nov 2027
Ramón Pasquel is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Morelia has been clear about where Ramón Pasquel stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Morelia
Rubén Del Campo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José David Ramírez 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Tomás Sives
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I want to play”: Tomás Sives speaks
“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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Ezequiel Orbe 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
Dorados will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Morelia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match28 Oct 2026
The small margins put Morelia out
Out, 0‑2 to Tigres, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Kevin Salazar takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kevin Salazar provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ángel Estrada has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Sives, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
A promise honoured at Morelia
Something was said to Tobías Ramírez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.