Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Climent was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valladolid have kept their man, and Juventud Torremolinos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody at Juventud Torremolinos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Juventud Torremolinos, another week without a signature from Ángel Climent.
Juventud Torremolinos have made the call to Valladolid. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Juventud Torremolinos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian Lara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The terracesThe Ángel Climent rumours reach the terraces
Ibán Ribeiro 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Climent 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aimar Rojas after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
4 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
“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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutAlejandro Bua has become a man the manager trusts
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ibán Ribeiro 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sabadell have kept their man, and Juventud Torremolinos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Chispa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Ángel Climent 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Juventud Torremolinos has been clear about where Bozada stands, which is more than many ever get.
Sevilla Atlético next, and one man in the Juventud Torremolinos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juventud Torremolinos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Juventud Torremolinos asked and Betis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Juventud Torremolinos, another week without a signature from Einar Galilea.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miguel Muñoz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristóbal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
12 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Juventud Torremolinos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.