Marked for Eirik Viland Andersen
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Sep 2035
3 behind and going nowhere, until Eirik Viland Andersen decided otherwise. Bilbao Athletic had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eirik Viland Andersen provided it, and the 7.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
A defender's goal wins it for Málaga — 7.66
1 for Tincho, marked 7.66, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Words exchanged at Málaga
Alejo Miro 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.
Match15 Sep 2035
Three points for Málaga, 4‑3 the final word against Bilbao Athletic in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Transfer targets17 Sep 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mallorca have kept their man, and Málaga go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Words at Málaga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximilán Marko 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 dugout17 Sep 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Galo Volpe, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Sep 2035
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2035
“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 The request is on a desk at Málaga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Málaga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2035
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.
Squad23 Jul 2035
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad23 Jul 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martín Riffo and Málaga agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Words at Málaga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Olowu 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 dugout23 Jul 2035
“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.
The dugout23 Jul 2035
Tomás Escobar 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.
Market23 Jul 2035
The name of Dani Lorenzo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Málaga say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Jan 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Málaga can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 Jan 2035
4 matches without a win for Málaga
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Málaga are no longer polite ones.
Match13 Jan 2035
4 matches without a goal for Málaga
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.
Squad15 Jan 2035
A row about effort at Málaga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carles Aleñá was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Jan 2035
A falling-out at Málaga
Alejo Miro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2035
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.
Match13 Jan 2035
A bad afternoon for Málaga against Osasuna
0‑2 to Osasuna, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Jan 2035
The manager makes an example of Taylor Richards
“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.
Market15 Jan 2035
Málaga and Alejo Miro are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Carlos Espí is in the works
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The dugout
A promise honoured for Taylor Richards