Marked for Juan Edson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Alan Pulido: 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.” Guadalajara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market19 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ángel Sepúlveda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guadalajara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Feb 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 Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Player ratings19 Feb 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Guallama
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Guadalajara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Levi Garcia 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Bryan González 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Franco Lorenzón wants continental football; whether Guadalajara can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Diego Campillo
“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.
Loan watch12 Feb 2029
“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 Guadalajara, and 3 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Marked 7.68. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match10 Feb 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Chiapas came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market22 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 Guadalajara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guadalajara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Levi Garcia 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 Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
1‑2 to Puebla, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Juan Edson told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Juan Edson has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Guadalajara.
Squad22 Jan 2029
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 48. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Oct 2028
9 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Levi Garcia 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
4 matches without a goal for Guadalajara
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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Gutiérrez 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.
Loan watch23 Oct 2028
“I did not go to Dorados to sit and watch. I want to come back to Guadalajara and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.65 on the card, and the Guadalajara support went home talking about one name.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Juan Edson dropped after a run of poor form
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Oct 2028
7 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Levi Garcia 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Bryan González 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jorge Hernández and Guadalajara agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market9 Oct 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Franco Lorenzón wants continental football; whether Guadalajara can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad9 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Juan Edson
“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 ratings9 Oct 2028
A mark of 7.69, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market9 Oct 2028
The Luis Romo talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Guadalajara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jun 2028
Pumas UNAM paid $1.6M and Guadalajara took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad19 Jun 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 Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Guadalajara have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad19 Jun 2028
7 new faces, and Guadalajara 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.
In brief
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Market
Toluca are about to pick up the phone
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Squad
Juan Edson knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guadalajara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 May 2028
Juan Edson: 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.” Guadalajara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 May 2028
Richard Ledezma 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 53. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Guadalajara boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Jan 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 Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match25 Dec 2027
No end in sight to Guadalajara's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Guadalajara has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
Pumas UNAM left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Dec 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Match11 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Atlas will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Dec 2027
0‑3 to Santos Laguna, 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Pressure builds in the Guadalajara boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Bryan González 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
“I did not go to Nashville SC to sit and watch. I want to come back to Guadalajara and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Omar Govea
“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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Nov 2027
Dorados will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Guadalajara were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Guadalajara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan González 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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Marked 8.29. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Guadalajara.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Edson
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 49. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Bryan González 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Campillo, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Juan Edson dropped after a run of poor form
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.