Marked for Valentín Díaz
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Defensive actions: 43. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Pressure builds in the San Luis boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Nicolas Davila has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match1 Sep 2029
No end in sight to San Luis's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at San Luis has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Luis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Gastón Pérez 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 ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Aug 2029
4 matches without a win for San Luis
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around San Luis are no longer polite ones.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Gonzalo Bustos 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.
Match18 Aug 2029
Santiago Wanderers left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Aug 2029
The medical room confirms 91 days on the sidelines for Miguel Toledo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
The cruellest goal, and it is Joaquín Aros's
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and San Luis will not try tonight.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Aug 2029
Every point is an argument now for San Luis
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Luis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Marked 8.31 — 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.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Meza, and the manager let it.
Match11 Aug 2029
A 2‑2 draw with Palestino leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Valentín Díaz has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at San Luis that is a harder question to answer.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Nerves in the San Luis squad
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for San Luis
8 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergio Leiva and San Luis agree another 4 years.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Marked 9.15 — 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.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Jul 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Valentín Díaz knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad2 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Alan Maimo
“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.
Match30 Jun 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Union Espanola leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
4.27 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jun 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match9 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for San Luis
5 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Luis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Vicente Durán
“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 ratings11 Jun 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market11 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. San Luis will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Marked 5.46, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 May 2029
“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 San Luis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 May 2029
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Match26 May 2029
0‑2 to Colo-Colo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 May 2029
“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.
Squad28 May 2029
“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
Crisis
Match21 May 2029
San Luis are in real trouble now
Position 14, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Luis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 May 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 May 2029
Sergio Leiva 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Ignacio Ponce 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 San Luis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 May 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 32 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad14 May 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexander Acosta and San Luis agree another 3 years.
Squad14 May 2029
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gastón Pérez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Apr 2029
19 matches without a win for San Luis
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around San Luis are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” San Luis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Match28 Apr 2029
Palestino left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vicente Durán, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Valentín Díaz 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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Marked 5.79, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Apr 2029
18 matches without a win for San Luis
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around San Luis are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Luis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Marked 9.11 — 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Valentín Díaz
“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 ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Apr 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Mar 2029
No end in sight to San Luis's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at San Luis has to find a result from somewhere.
Match14 Mar 2029
San Luis bow out of the cup
Universidad de Chile go through and San Luis go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“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 ratings19 Mar 2029
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match17 Mar 2029
Point won or two lost for San Luis?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Union Espanola? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Dec 2028
Mirko Ladrón de Guevara 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
48 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market11 Dec 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. San Luis will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A new face in his position, and Ignacio Ponce suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. San Luis have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market11 Dec 2028
No fee and no drama: Valentín Díaz has signed at San Luis, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.