“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Rivas, and the manager let it.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
108% of the income goes out in wages at Dynamo Puerto
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Joshua Acosta signs something — a contract at Dynamo Puerto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutPedro Fulco asks for a word with the manager
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dynamo Puerto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Luis Uliambre 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Rivas 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.
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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Elvis Maldonado was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 38, with 427 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
Gustavo Lozano, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Luis Uliambre 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Arian Moreno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dynamo Puerto know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dynamo Puerto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
36 points in position 10: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dynamo Puerto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Martins and Dynamo Puerto agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Dynamo Puerto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Kevin Díaz 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dipson Meza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ricardo Martins 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
In brief
The dugoutPedro Fulco knocks on the manager's door
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Dynamo Puerto is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Puerto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Díaz 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Dynamo Puerto will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Francisco Rivas is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
That is the business done at Dynamo Puerto until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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.
Ricardo Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stifensón Pérez 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Díaz, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
101% of the income goes out in wages at Dynamo Puerto
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout26 Jul 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 1‑2 Salomon Gonzalez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The deal with Carabobo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Ricardo Martins 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Pedro Fulco will call it something else in private.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Everything agreed with Deportivo Tachira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Dynamo Puerto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at UCV, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Luis Uliambre 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.
“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 Dynamo Puerto, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Puerto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Luis Uliambre 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Hernández, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Dynamo Puerto
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The offer from UCV for Francisco Rivas 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dynamo Puerto have done the hard part with Deportivo Tachira, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ricardo Martins 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Kevin Díaz 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Carlos Hernández has his answer from Dynamo Puerto; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Alarcón, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Salomon Gonzalez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Puerto can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Deportivo Tachira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Add another name to the list: Carabobo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Carlos Hernández. The answer from Dynamo Puerto has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Puerto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ricardo Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Kevin Díaz 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.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
Ricardo Martins 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout24 May 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 0‑1 Salomon Gonzalez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Puerto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stifensón Pérez 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.” Salomon Gonzalez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dynamo Puerto told Yhonnier Lozada something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Dynamo Puerto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Ureña next, and one man in the Dynamo Puerto dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Stifensón Pérez 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
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Díaz 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Bolívar had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Half the programme played, position 9, 20 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dynamo Puerto has been clear about where Josué Nawrocki stands, which is more than many ever get.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Salomon Gonzalez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dynamo Puerto dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dynamo Puerto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ricardo Martins 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stifensón Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dynamo Puerto. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Ricardo Martins 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Something was said to Josué Nawrocki and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Salomon Gonzalez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dynamo Puerto dressing room was either.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joshua Acosta did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.15 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ricardo Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Dynamo Puerto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stifensón Pérez 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Salomon Gonzalez could afford to be generous.