Marked for DeAndre Morris
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 May 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A defender's goal wins it for Llaneros — 7.66
1 for Juan David Pertúz, marked 7.66, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad28 May 2029
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match26 May 2029
Llaneros cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad28 May 2029
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.
Match26 May 2029
It finished 3‑1, and it was Andrés López’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Llaneros.
The terraces28 May 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emiliano Chiavassa 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan David Pertúz 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“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; Llaneros are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 May 2029
The cup run ends for Llaneros
0‑3 against Independiente Medellin, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match12 May 2029
Bogota will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Llaneros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 May 2029
The match ball belongs to Mateo García, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market14 May 2029
Álex Segura 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.
Squad14 May 2029
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces14 May 2029
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad14 May 2029
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Barreiro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 May 2029
A falling-out at Llaneros
Bryan Rivas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 May 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.44, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Llaneros
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
DeAndre Morris gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2029
Real Santander will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Llaneros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market23 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Apr 2029
Llaneros refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 23 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
A brace, and Álex Segura takes the afternoon — 8.61
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álex Segura provided it, and the 8.61 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
DeAndre Morris: 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Barreiro 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Adrián Rivas in a row with a teammate
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.
The terraces23 Apr 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emiliano Chiavassa 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Mar 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match26 Mar 2029
Llaneros refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 19 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Llaneros make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Llaneros have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Emiliano Chiavassa 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Álex Segura. 1‑0 against Depor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan David Pertúz 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Juan Caicedo
“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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 7.78. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Llaneros
14 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Sochi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Llaneros did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Llaneros is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Manuel Ballesteros commits to Llaneros for another 4 years.
Squad12 Feb 2029
5 new faces, and Llaneros 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jan 2029
The wait goes on for Llaneros
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.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Carlos Barreiro scored one and made one — 7.74
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.74, and 2 involvements.
Match27 Jan 2029
Real Santander left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Francisco Meza 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.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
Still nobody in the Llaneros dugout
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Carlos Barreiro 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.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“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; Llaneros are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
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Market
Juan Caicedo is free to find somewhere else
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Juan Caicedo
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Pressure builds in the Llaneros boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market15 Jan 2029
Juan Caicedo 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Only the photograph left for Brian Mendoza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Barreiro 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.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Independiente Medellin have kept their man, and Llaneros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Yan Mosquera
“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.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Mateo García knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Llaneros, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Adrián Rivas gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adrián Rivas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Dec 2028
Mateo García 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 dugout11 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Llaneros may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market11 Dec 2028
The phone has started ringing about Néider Ospina again, and this time the name on the line is Alianza Lima. Llaneros are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market11 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Llaneros is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets11 Dec 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Álex Segura 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 dugout11 Dec 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to DeAndre Morris, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Luis Piedrahita 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces27 Nov 2028
Supporters organise against the Llaneros board
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.
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“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.
Market27 Nov 2028
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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Barreiro 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 dugout27 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Yan Mosquera
“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.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Nicolás Rivera is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Álex Segura knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Álex Segura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Llaneros
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market20 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Brian Mendoza has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Llaneros they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Juan Caicedo in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Cuero
“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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Piedrahita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Álex Segura knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Llaneros, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
Pressure builds in the Llaneros boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match23 Sep 2028
The wait goes on for Llaneros
6 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Brian Mendoza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market25 Sep 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Néider Ospina wants continental football; whether Llaneros can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match23 Sep 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Llaneros and Envigado, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match23 Sep 2028
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Barreiro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“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; Llaneros are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jul 2028
Beaten 1‑5 by Independiente Medellin, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Llaneros
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
DeAndre Morris 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. DeAndre Morris has, at Llaneros, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market31 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Brian Mendoza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market31 Jul 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Llaneros can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Jul 2028
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.