Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 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 Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Tijuana left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Aug 2035
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra 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 5.72. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Arturo Palma 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Carlos Guardado has just signed for Morelia, and for once the answer mattered.
Tigres will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mateo Reynoso has pre-agreed a move to Morelia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad11 Jun 2035
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Morelia, another week without a signature from Giovani Bravo.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Manuel Vega is living that version at Morelia, and it tends to show in the first month.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Fernando Gutierrez has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Morelia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Arturo Palma 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 Morelia training over how hard people work
SquadUziel García has become a man the manager trusts
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Veracruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leonardo Morales has just signed for Veracruz, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Veracruz hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. José Hernández has agreed terms with Morelia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Jorge Herrera 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.
Diego Ramirez 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Veracruz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Nov 2033
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Herrera 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jorge Herrera signs something — a contract at Veracruz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.