It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Michael Carcelén 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Queretaro, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Villanueva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queretaro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Michael Carcelén 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Villanueva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queretaro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Michael Carcelén 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.
“I watch every Queretaro game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Charlotte Football Club runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 The request is on a desk at Queretaro, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Reyes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaime Gómez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queretaro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Guadalajara will make the call about Daniel Parra this week. Queretaro have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
12 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.
“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 Queretaro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Michael Carcelén 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.
“I watch every Queretaro game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at FC Cincinnati runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
He is 20, and nobody at Queretaro signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
1‑4 to Cruz Azul, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Diego Reyes 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Osvaldo Basurto again, and this time the name on the line is Pumas UNAM. Queretaro are listening politely and promising nothing.
Diego Reyes 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Queretaro game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Charlotte Football Club runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Diego Reyes 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.
“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 Queretaro know 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 Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Queretaro, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Edison Gruezo
5 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.
Michael Carcelén 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.
Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Diego Reyes 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 9.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Paulo Victor 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.