Marked for Luis Mascareño
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2036
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Pumas UNAM know it.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Tyrique George and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Pumas UNAM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Sagües Barreiro 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 dugout14 Apr 2036
No hiding place for José Muro
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Muro, and the manager let it.
Market14 Apr 2036
“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.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
The manager has not finished forgetting Kevin Mora'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.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Andrés Araujo 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.
Market14 Apr 2036
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Pumas UNAM could get for him.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Aldo de Nigris has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Pumas UNAM that is a harder question to answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2034
Ezequiel Gerez 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.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Youssef Ortiz 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.
Match16 Sep 2034
A 1‑0 win over Queretaro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad18 Sep 2034
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Pumas UNAM have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
Squad18 Sep 2034
No place for Eduardo Ochoa in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Pumas UNAM are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings18 Sep 2034
Marked 7.76. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout18 Sep 2034
Nathan Silva gets it from the manager
“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 dugout18 Sep 2034
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Market18 Sep 2034
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Angel Sanchez has his answer from Pumas UNAM; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 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.
Squad29 May 2034
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad29 May 2034
Words at Pumas UNAM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adalberto Carrasquilla 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 dugout29 May 2034
Nathan Silva knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nathan Silva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 May 2034
When it matters, Martín Río plays
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.
The dugout29 May 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.
Market29 May 2034
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market29 May 2034
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Pumas UNAM could get for him.
Squad29 May 2034
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Pumas UNAM have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 May 2034
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pumas UNAM lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom22 May 2034
Pressure builds in the Pumas UNAM boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout22 May 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pumas UNAM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 May 2034
Nathan Silva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 May 2034
Words at Pumas UNAM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Río 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 dugout22 May 2034
Nathan Silva 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.
The dugout22 May 2034
Jordan García gets picked when it counts
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 Jordan García is on it.
Market22 May 2034
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Pumas UNAM, another week without a signature from César Montes.
Market22 May 2034
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Pumas UNAM could get for him.