Marked for Gian Gómez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Oct 2034
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market16 Oct 2034
Gian Gómez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad de Chile they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Enzo Cardozo 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.
Squad16 Oct 2034
A move Luciano Arnijas would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luciano Arnijas is living that version at Universidad de Chile, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Villagra 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.
Market16 Oct 2034
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2034
5 new faces, and Universidad de Chile are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Sep 2034
Position 3 on 58 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings18 Sep 2034
A brace, and Alexis Aranguiz takes the afternoon — 8.44
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexis Aranguiz provided it, and the 8.44 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market18 Sep 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Sep 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom18 Sep 2034
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Santino Rodríguez has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Maximiliano Gutiérrez 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.
Boardroom18 Sep 2034
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The terraces18 Sep 2034
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match16 Sep 2034
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexis Aranguiz. 2‑0 against Deportes Copiapó, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Aug 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Universidad de Chile may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market21 Aug 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom21 Aug 2034
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Leandro Alcaraz has agreed terms with Colo-Colo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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 Aug 2034
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Villagra is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
“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.
Market21 Aug 2034
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ignacio Manzanares wants continental football; whether Universidad de Chile can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Jul 2034
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Universidad de Chile people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout17 Jul 2034
“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.
Market17 Jul 2034
Joaquín Silva hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Jul 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match15 Jul 2034
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Enzo Cardozo 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.
Market17 Jul 2034
Every dressing room knows how to read a signing like this one. Tete is not here to sit and wait indefinitely, and the man whose place he has been bought to take knows it better than anyone.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2034
Universidad de Chile asked and Audax Italiano said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Jul 2034
A 3‑1 win over Curicó Unido, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jun 2034
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Universidad de Chile have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market19 Jun 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout19 Jun 2034
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universidad de Chile have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market19 Jun 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market19 Jun 2034
The offer from Brusque for Felipe Scheibig 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2034
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Monterrey keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Jun 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2034
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jun 2034
Rodrigo Villagra 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 May 2034
35 days out for Felipe Scheibig after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad de Chile will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings8 May 2034
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market8 May 2034
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universidad de Chile can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market8 May 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Maliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Universidad de Chile the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2034
Lautaro Garzón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Villagra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings8 May 2034
Gian Gómez beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2034
42 days out for Felipe Scheibig after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad de Chile will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings1 May 2034
Gian Gómez runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 May 2034
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout1 May 2034
“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.
Market1 May 2034
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad de Chile they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 May 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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.
Market1 May 2034
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Gonzalo Alassia wants continental football; whether Universidad de Chile can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad1 May 2034
Rodrigo Villagra 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Apr 2034
49 days out for Felipe Scheibig after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad de Chile will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings24 Apr 2034
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Apr 2034
Only the photograph left for Jamerson
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jamerson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Universidad de Chile the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market24 Apr 2034
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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.
Boardroom24 Apr 2034
Colo-Colo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jeremías Reyna has pre-agreed a move to Universidad de Chile, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The terraces24 Apr 2034
He is 20 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.
Player ratings24 Apr 2034
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Apr 2034
72 days out for Felipe Scheibig after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad de Chile will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings3 Apr 2034
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match1 Apr 2034
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market3 Apr 2034
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Universidad de Chile hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market3 Apr 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2034
Maximiliano Gutiérrez 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.
Match1 Apr 2034
A 1‑0 win over Curicó Unido, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad3 Apr 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javier Márquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Apr 2034
A muscle injury sidelines Marcelo Nunez for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Universidad de Chile will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Mar 2034
103 days out for Felipe Scheibig after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad de Chile will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 Mar 2034
“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 Universidad de Chile, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Mar 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Universidad de Chile may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Mar 2034
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Market6 Mar 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignacio Gentile will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Universidad de Chile the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Mar 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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.
Squad6 Mar 2034
Rodrigo Villagra 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings27 Feb 2034
No sign of nerves from Alexis Aranguiz at 20 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alexis Aranguiz did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad27 Feb 2034
Lautaro Garzón 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.
Market27 Feb 2034
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Feb 2034
A move Santino Rodríguez would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Santino Rodríguez is living that version at Universidad de Chile, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad27 Feb 2034
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Villagra 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.
Match25 Feb 2034
A 2‑0 win over Everton de Viña del Mar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout27 Feb 2034
“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 ratings27 Feb 2034
The afternoon belonged to Gian Gómez
A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout31 Oct 2033
Bruno Bertinato: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universidad de Chile have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Oct 2033
“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 Universidad de Chile, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Oct 2033
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universidad de Chile can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Maximiliano Gutiérrez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Sforza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Oct 2033
A move Gian Gómez would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gian Gómez is living that version at Universidad de Chile, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout31 Oct 2033
Kauê Rodrigues has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Universidad de Chile 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 dugout31 Oct 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Agustín Lastra's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.