Marked for Luis Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Mar 2028
The mood at Atletico Venezuela 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
6 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atletico Venezuela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Diego Otero 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Atletico Venezuela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Osorio 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Estudiantes de Merida, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout20 Mar 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atletico Venezuela can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Aug 2027
Rafael Soteldo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atletico Venezuela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Sergio Arango: 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.” Atletico Venezuela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Diego Otero 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Atletico Venezuela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Otero 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Herrera and Atletico Venezuela agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Rincon, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Rafael Soteldo 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 Atletico Venezuela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market30 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Cristian Castillo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout17 May 2027
Luis Ramirez: 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.” Atletico Venezuela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 May 2027
“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 Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match15 May 2027
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atletico Venezuela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Diego Otero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Luis Murillo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 May 2027
Diego Gonzalez 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
A promise honoured for José Ferrer
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Atletico Venezuela told José Ferrer something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match15 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yeferson Moreno, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
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.
Market22 Mar 2027
“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 Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Diego Otero 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Luis Murillo 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Estudiantes de Merida, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Luis Ramirez
“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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Atletico Venezuela lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Diego Otero 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Luis Murillo 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Zamora left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Ramirez, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Rafael Rincon to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Salomon Moreno has his answer from Atletico Venezuela; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“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 Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cerro Porteno is saying, and nobody at Atletico Venezuela is enjoying the guessing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Diego Otero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing have kept their man, and Atletico Venezuela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Alejandro Otero 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Victor Cordova 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 Atletico Venezuela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Diego Otero 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Cordova was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.