Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tijuana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Unai Bilbao 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Efrain Gallardo was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Tijuana dressing room was either.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Tijuana are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Santos Laguna? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The young player of the month award goes to a 18-year-old at Tijuana who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Amador was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Tijuana close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 3 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tijuana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Estudiantes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Unai Bilbao 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.
Add another name to the list: Veracruz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rafael Fernández. The answer from Tijuana has not changed — yet.
Real Sociedad paid $8.5M and Tijuana took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tijuana can pretend not to have heard.
Francisco González has gone, the accounts have $8.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
He is 18, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tijuana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gilberto Mora 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 Tijuana training over how hard people work
The offer from Betis for Gilberto Mora 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Gilberto Mora 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Unai Bilbao 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.
He is 18, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Unai Bilbao 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tijuana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Tijuana can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
A mark of 7.93, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.” Efrain Gallardo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gilberto Mora did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Bilbao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Mourad was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Efrain Gallardo after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Unai Bilbao 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: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Gilberto Mora is the division's best young player this month
At 18 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Tijuana will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Efrain Gallardo chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Puebla? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutDiego Abreu knocks on the manager's door
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tijuana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Gilberto Mora, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Unai Bilbao 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tijuana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Unai Bilbao 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.
Minute 93, against Cruz Azul, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Position 13, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tijuana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Efrain Gallardo to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutGilberto Mora knocks on the manager’s door
Gilberto Mora 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.” Iván Tona and Tijuana agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Tijuana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Bilbao 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.
0‑1 to Veracruz, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Efrain Gallardo to a room that had heard them before.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
In brief
The dugoutDiego Abreu knocks on the manager’s door
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gilberto Mora did not need any: 8.42, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 17, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Unai Bilbao 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ignacio Rivero. 3‑2 against Queretaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 17 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.26 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Unai Bilbao and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Tijuana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Gómez 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.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Efrain Gallardo could afford to be generous.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is José Antonio Rodríguez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tijuana needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Gilberto Mora and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Unai Bilbao 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Efrain Gallardo after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Dorados next, and one man in the Tijuana dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlas have kept their man, and Tijuana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Unai Bilbao 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 Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Efrain Gallardo after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Frank Boya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. José Castro had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The fee is $2.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Chiapas drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Aldahir Pérez reports back to Tijuana with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Tijuana until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Queretaro have kept their man, and Tijuana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Unai Bilbao 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 young player of the month award goes to a 17-year-old at Tijuana who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Manzanarez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Diogo Bagüí
Mourad 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Unai Bilbao 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.
Tijuana asked and San Lorenzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Gilberto Mora, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.37
A mark of 8.37 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
$2.6M on the table at Chiapas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Francisco González wants continental football; whether Tijuana can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Tijuana asked and San Diego Football Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Gilberto Mora has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gilberto Mora. 2‑0 against Morelia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Unai Bilbao 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Efrain Gallardo to a room that had heard them before.
A loan enquiry to San Diego Football Club: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
SquadGilberto Mora, 17, is the weekend’s best young player
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Diego Abreu
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gilberto Mora did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mourad 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Tijuana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Bilbao 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Columbus Crew have kept their man, and Tijuana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Monterrey have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ramiro Árciga. The answer from Tijuana has not changed — yet.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jesus Lozano has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.