The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cienciano they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
Squad19 Jul 2038
Iván Medina 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.
Nobody at Cienciano will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cienciano has been clear about where Kevin Polo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Two goals and a mark of 9.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Cienciano is running low.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.66 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
191 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jairo Amherdt. 3‑2 against Juan Aurich, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad5 Jul 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.60 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cienciano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad28 Jun 2038
Iván Medina 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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Ayacucho kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Cienciano will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.13 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Iván Medina 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.
Squad21 Jun 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Mejía 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.
14 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cienciano can pretend not to have heard.
24 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Facundo Muñóz 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 Jun 2038
Iván Medina 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.19 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals and a season average of 7.59 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad24 May 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
A 1‑0 win over Cesar Vallejo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Diego Antinori
1‑4 against Sport Huancayo, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
Squad17 May 2038
Iván Medina 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 3, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.98 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 3‑2 win over Alianza Lima, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad3 May 2038
Iván Medina 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.55 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Apr 2038
José Mejía 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
Shots: 17. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad22 Mar 2038
Iván Medina 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Naoufal Bannis. 2‑1 against Melgar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings22 Mar 2038
Jairo Amherdt was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.69. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Deportivo Municipal kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Cienciano will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.27 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Jordan Quispe 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 Mar 2038
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
It needed Petr Potměšil to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Deportivo Municipal, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.47 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
22 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad22 Feb 2038
Iván Medina 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.
A 1‑0 win over Sporting Cristal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.53 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Cienciano and Alianza Atletico in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Facundo Muñóz 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 Jan 2038
Iván Medina 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
Squad28 Dec 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Beto Benavente is 19, and Cienciano have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Cienciano is running low.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Italo Espinoza 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.
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 12 and 13 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Nobody at Cienciano will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
SquadFacundo Muñóz has become a man the manager trusts
Italo Espinoza 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad28 Sep 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Nobody at Cienciano will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
In brief
SquadIván Medina falls out with a teammate over standards
BoardroomThe Cienciano production line keeps running
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2037
An order from above at Cienciano: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadIván Medina falls out with a teammate over standards
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Mejía 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iván Medina signs something — a contract at Cienciano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iván Medina signs something — a contract at Cienciano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Cienciano, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Jul 2037
Iván Medina 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.
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.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces29 Jun 2037
The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Italo Espinoza 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.01 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cienciano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Cienciano and Ayacucho in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Jun 2037
Iván Medina 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.
13 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.
Position 12 and 12 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Italo Espinoza 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 Jun 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad25 May 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Nobody at Cienciano will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 12 and 10 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cienciano can tell you which week it ends in.
Italo Espinoza 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.
0‑2 to Sport Huancayo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 May 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Mejía 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cienciano can pretend not to have heard.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 May 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Nobody at Cienciano will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The mood at Cienciano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad4 May 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Apr 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cienciano can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Apr 2037
Iván Medina 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Mar 2037
Iván Medina 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.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Italo Espinoza 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.
Squad23 Mar 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.72 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Italo Espinoza 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Feb 2037
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Mejía 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.
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.
It needed Lautaro César to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sporting Cristal, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.18 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
6 goals in one match, Naoufal Bannis on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Cienciano and Alianza Lima.
Squad16 Feb 2037
Iván Medina 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Facundo Muñóz 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 Jan 2037
José Mejía 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Cienciano is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad29 Dec 2036
Iván Medina 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cienciano can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Medina 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadIván Medina falls out with a teammate over standards
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cienciano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Italo Espinoza 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Naoufal Bannis 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.
In brief
SquadIván Medina falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Italo Espinoza 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cienciano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Italo Espinoza 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Cienciano training over how hard people work
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cienciano can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lautaro César and Cienciano agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Sep 2036
Iván Medina 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.