Marked for Leonel Sánchez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Union La Calera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Olivera 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yerko Leiva, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
51 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match18 Aug 2029
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Audax Italiano? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market20 Aug 2029
4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Union La Calera money.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 May 2029
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.
Squad28 May 2029
A fracture rules Leonel Sánchez out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 May 2029
Nicolás Avellaneda 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 May 2029
Maximiliano Olivera 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.
Match26 May 2029
O'Higgins left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximiliano Olivera, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 May 2029
4.15. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
The terraces28 May 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Bayron Oyarzo
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 May 2029
A fracture rules Leonel Sánchez out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 May 2029
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Union La Calera are no longer polite ones.
Match19 May 2029
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.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Avellaneda, and the manager let it.
Match19 May 2029
0‑2 to Universidad de Chile, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 May 2029
Christopher Díaz 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.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces21 May 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Nicolás Palma
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces14 May 2029
The mood at Union La Calera 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.
Squad14 May 2029
A fracture rules Leonel Sánchez out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 May 2029
No end in sight to Union La Calera's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Union La Calera has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings14 May 2029
26 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Nicolás Avellaneda 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.
Match12 May 2029
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Union La Calera can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad14 May 2029
Maximiliano Olivera 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Salazar, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 May 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 May 2029
No end in sight to Union La Calera's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Union La Calera has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bayron Oyarzo commits to Union La Calera for another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Union La Calera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Olivera 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.
Match5 May 2029
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match5 May 2029
0‑1 to Audax Italiano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings7 May 2029
5.60. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings7 May 2029
A mark of 5.72 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match28 Apr 2029
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Union La Calera are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Leiva, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Union La Calera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Díaz 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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Apr 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. San Marcos de Arica will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 147 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Willians
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Willians will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Union La Calera the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Nicolás Avellaneda 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 Sep 2028
Fredy Hinestroza 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Leiva'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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
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 terraces4 Sep 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 38 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market4 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Franco Lobos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franco Lobos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Union La Calera the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Union La Calera's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Union La Calera has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Leonel Sánchez gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leonel Sánchez has just signed for Union La Calera, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Union La Calera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fredy Hinestroza 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
Universidad de Chile left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market13 Dec 2027
Talleres say no — this time
The offer from Vélez for Emiliano Daghero 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Bruno Barticciotto 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Catalán, and the manager let it.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
“I did not go to Kashiwa Reysol to sit and watch. I want to come back to Talleres and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
The goals keep arriving from Gonzalo Álvez’s exile
4 goals in 33 games at Central Norte — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Talleres updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
22 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
34 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.