Sebastián Mella 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 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 Cobresal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2040
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vicente Taborda 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Eduardo Suazo 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.
A 2‑0 win over San Marcos de Arica, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Sebastián Mella 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cobresal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Union Espanola, and it could have been more.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
A brace, and Ethan Laidlaw takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ethan Laidlaw provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Sebastián Mella 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.
Squad26 Mar 2040
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Felipe 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 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cobresal 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 Cobresal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
22 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad19 Mar 2040
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vicente Taborda 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.27 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 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 Cobresal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad29 Aug 2039
Pedro Felipe 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.
A 2‑0 win over Santiago Wanderers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
In brief
SquadEthan Laidlaw has become a man the manager trusts
Sebastián Mella 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.
10 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take 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 Cobresal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Aug 2039
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vicente Taborda 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.
56 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Sebastián Mella 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 Aug 2039
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Felipe 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vicente Taborda. 1‑0 against Antofagasta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
A brace, and Ethan Laidlaw takes the afternoon — 8.73
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ethan Laidlaw provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Edgar González scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cobresal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Cobresal and Universidad de Chile in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad18 Jul 2039
Pedro Felipe 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Sebastián Mella 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.
Squad16 May 2039
Words at Cobresal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Felipe 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.
A 2‑0 win over Santiago Wanderers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cobresal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sebastián Mella 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.
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.