Marked for Luis Mateus
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 May 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad12 May 2036
Michael Barragán 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.
Match10 May 2036
Universitario Popayan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings12 May 2036
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 May 2036
“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.
Squad12 May 2036
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafael Medina and Llaneros agree another 3 years.
The dugout12 May 2036
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad12 May 2036
Andres Romero 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 dugout12 May 2036
The manager makes an example of Ndidi Adebayor
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Apr 2036
11 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
The terraces7 Apr 2036
The mood at Llaneros 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.
Match7 Apr 2036
Every point is an argument now for Llaneros
Position 12 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Jhojan Escobar 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.
Match5 Apr 2036
Depor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Federico Ibáñez 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.
Market7 Apr 2036
“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.
The dugout7 Apr 2036
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout7 Apr 2036
The manager makes an example of Julian Santos
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jan 2036
There were 14 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout28 Jan 2036
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Juan Ignacio Quatrocchi 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.
Match26 Jan 2036
0‑2 to Cortulua, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Federico Ibáñez 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.
The dugout28 Jan 2036
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead28 Jan 2036
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nicolas Valencia’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Llaneros needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 19. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
Market28 Jan 2036
The name of Yefrín Castillo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Llaneros say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Oct 2035
Llaneros up to position 3
43 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Óscar Conde 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 Oct 2035
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
Timi Sesko 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.
Market22 Oct 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michael Barragán signs something — a contract at Llaneros or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
Luis Borja has been promised minutes
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 Luis Borja has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Sep 2035
A fracture rules Rafael Moreno out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Sep 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Benjamín González 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.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Conde 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 dugout3 Sep 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yefrín Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 Sep 2035
The clock does Óscar Conde’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Llaneros could ask drops and the wages Óscar Conde can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Jul 2035
A fracture rules Rafael Moreno out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match30 Jul 2035
Llaneros refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 43 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market30 Jul 2035
Rafael Moreno hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Llaneros can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout30 Jul 2035
Jesus Vargas: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Llaneros have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Óscar Conde 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.
Squad30 Jul 2035
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Junior have kept their man, and Llaneros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout30 Jul 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabian Perez, and the manager let it.
Market30 Jul 2035
The name of Michael Barragán keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Llaneros say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Jul 2035
Rafael Moreno breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Jul 2035
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom23 Jul 2035
Llaneros close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 7 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Óscar Conde 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.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atletico Nacional have kept their man, and Llaneros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jul 2035
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Llaneros can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2035
A loan enquiry to Junior: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout28 May 2035
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match26 May 2035
5 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 May 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2035
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Ibáñez 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 dugout28 May 2035
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout28 May 2035
Luis Mateus 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.
Player ratings28 May 2035
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 May 2035
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Real Santander will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout28 May 2035
Cristian Vargas dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Jan 2035
Benjamín González 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.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Luis Mateus arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luis Mateus has, at Llaneros, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2035
Llaneros asked and Atletico Nacional said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jan 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Prokop commits to Llaneros for another 3 years.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jesus Vargas 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.
Market8 Jan 2035
Guram Janelidze is 19, and Llaneros have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market8 Jan 2035
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Llaneros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market8 Jan 2035
Llaneros spent the window trying to move Juan Ignacio Quatrocchi 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 dugout8 Jan 2035
Leonardo Bacca 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.