It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metropolitanos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Metropolitanos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denilson Ojeda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I did not go to Bali United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Metropolitanos and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Metropolitanos that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Metropolitanos scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Metropolitanos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
At 22 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.
A mark of 7.98, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout21 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Oscar Savarino kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
SquadJuan Ron falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metropolitanos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Oscar Savarino on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Ron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
10 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Oscar Savarino kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Ron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Estudiantes de Merida in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Jean Franco Fuentes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Oscar Savarino left the room before anybody could ask which.
Caracas next, and one man in the Metropolitanos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Jean Franco Fuentes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeizon Ramírez Chacón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Oscar Savarino could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Juan Ron
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Metropolitanos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín Bianciotti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Agustín Bianciotti signs something — a contract at Metropolitanos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Metropolitanos spent the window trying to move Leonardo Pérez on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Metropolitanos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
$350.0K was the most the club would pay and Portuguesa were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeizon Ramírez Chacón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Metropolitanos have made the call to Colón. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yohandry Lacruz is on it.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metropolitanos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metropolitanos can pretend not to have heard.
Metropolitanos have gone to Portuguesa with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
Metropolitanos offered $220.0K; Zamora said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yhonatann Yustiz and Metropolitanos agree another 2 years.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
“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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Metropolitanos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Ron is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yohandry Lacruz is on it.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Metropolitanos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metropolitanos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Fernández, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Metropolitanos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando García 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 Francisco Manenti signs something — a contract at Metropolitanos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 6, 44 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metropolitanos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Metropolitanos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jean Franco Fuentes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Metropolitanos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando García 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 the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Andrés Ferro wants continental football; whether Metropolitanos can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yohandry Lacruz is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Fernando García has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Ron trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Jean Franco Fuentes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeizon Ramírez Chacón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jean Franco Fuentes is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juan Felipe Quiñones has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alexis Rodríguez reports back to Metropolitanos with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Metropolitanos have done the hard part with Albion, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Pérez and Metropolitanos agree another 3 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín Bianciotti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Metropolitanos have no good answer.
Jean Franco Fuentes 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 Nov 2027
Words at Metropolitanos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeizon Ramírez Chacón 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.
48 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Ángelo Rivas are not good