Veracruz and Pumas UNAM have settled on $760.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Nestor Dos Santos was one of the reasons people came, and $7.0M does not replace that by itself.
Veracruz asked and Toluca said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$350.0K was the most the club would pay and Tigres were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Day 18 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Barrionuevo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 132 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Veracruz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Pablo Díaz'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veracruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 165 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Veracruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veracruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Diego Barrionuevo 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Veracruz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Uriel Araujo scored in the 85th minute, Chiapas had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Veracruz took the lot.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Veracruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
Raúl Torres 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 Jorge Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veracruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Barrionuevo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jaime Gómez has his answer from Veracruz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutIvan Ramirez has become a man the manager trusts
The mood at Veracruz 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Juan Pablo Díaz scored in the 89th minute, Morelia had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Veracruz took the lot.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Juan Pablo Díaz scored, was marked 6.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Diego Barrionuevo 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.
In brief
The dugoutSebastian Montes is still being punished for one mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 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 mood at Veracruz 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.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Veracruz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Everybody at Veracruz saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Diego Marquez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutIvan Ramirez has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutJuan Pablo Díaz is still being punished for one mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Veracruz asked and Santos Laguna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Raúl Torres 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 Veracruz, and 1 appearances in 27 say he has earned the hearing.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Veracruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Raúl Torres 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.
“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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Jaime Gómez 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.
“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 Veracruz, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Position 17 and 9 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Antonio Briseño 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 Jaime Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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 0‑2 Hirving Romo left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Veracruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutHiram Mier dropped after a run of poor form
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
Raúl Torres 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hirving Romo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutÉdgar Guerra knocks on the manager's door
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Veracruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Veracruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Antonio Briseño 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Veracruz has been clear about where Iván Cabrera stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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 0‑2 Hirving Romo left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Raúl Torres
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.
Nobody at Veracruz is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Veracruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Franco Di Santo obliged against Dorados. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Veracruz.
96 minutes played. Franco Di Santo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Dorados went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veracruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Diego Barrionuevo 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.
At 22 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.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Veracruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Rubén Del Campo 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Gutiérrez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Veracruz would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Veracruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Veracruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Tijuana is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The chase for Rubén Del Campo ended with $950.0K changing hands and Morelia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yastin Cuevas is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Rubén Del Campo was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $950.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Nestor Dos Santos 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 Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Édgar Games has written the date down.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jaime Gómez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jaime Gómez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jorge Hernández 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veracruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Veracruz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Veracruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hiram Mier commits to Veracruz for another 2 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Ivan Ramirez 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.
Jorge Hernández 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Veracruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Araujo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veracruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ivan Ramirez 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Veracruz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 Veracruz that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
The dugoutCarlos Araujo knocks on the manager’s door
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Yastin Cuevas 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.
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.
Veracruz interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Oribe Reyes keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Everybody at Veracruz saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Jaime Gómez 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.” Oribe Reyes after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veracruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ivan Ramirez 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.
Hiram Mier 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Veracruz has been clear about where Miguel Corona stands, which is more than many ever get.
The run now stands at 31, and the questions being asked around Veracruz are no longer polite ones.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Veracruz 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Veracruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Gutiérrez, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Veracruz are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Erick Reyes clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ramirez 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.
Jorge Hernández 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.
28 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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ramirez 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Rafael Baca will call it something else in private.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Omar Mendoza has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Alexis Alvarez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Veracruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaime Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Veracruz game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pumas UNAM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Position 18 and 7 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nestor Dos Santos 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Veracruz can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Veracruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Ramirez and Veracruz agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ivan Ramirez 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.
Veracruz ran out of time with Tijuana. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“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 Veracruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Tijuana, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Veracruz close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 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.
Héctor Moreno 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.
Veracruz asked and Morelia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every Veracruz game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Morelia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Veracruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Veracruz have done the hard part with Morelia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz 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 Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
22 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.
Position 18 and 6 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Veracruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$980.0K was the most the club would pay and Dorados were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Nestor Dos Santos 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.
Veracruz asked and Castellón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz 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 Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Veracruz know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Erick Reyes after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Jaime Gómez
17 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 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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
Jorge Hernández 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Ivan Ramirez 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.
Half the programme played, position 17, 5 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
17 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.
16 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
0‑2 to Toluca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ramirez 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Héctor Moreno has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
15 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.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Veracruz 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ivan Ramirez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaime Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Veracruz, and 4 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
19 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Erick Reyes after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Nestor Dos Santos 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ivan Ramirez 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Veracruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Carlos Gutiérrez has written the date down.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
7.47, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Héctor Moreno 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 did not go to Pumas UNAM to sit and watch. I want to come back to Veracruz and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ramirez 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.
Veracruz have gone to Tigres with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jonathan Corona was one of the reasons people came, and $370.0K does not replace that by itself.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veracruz can tell you which week it ends in.
$340.0K on the table at Tijuana. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Nestor Dos Santos 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.