Marked for Junior Murillo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Llaneros
10 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.
Match1 Apr 2028
Chastening afternoon for Llaneros
A 0‑4 beating by Deportivo La Guaira was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Francisco Machis out for 69 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Christian Gómez 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.
Match1 Apr 2028
Llaneros are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Gómez, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Roca 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Francisco Machis out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Mar 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alexsejs Bukovskis is living that version at Llaneros, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match25 Mar 2028
1‑2 to Estudiantes de Merida, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Miguel Martinez
“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.
Market27 Mar 2028
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
5.41 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
5.52. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Francisco Machis out for 90 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Match11 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.40, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad13 Mar 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Llaneros and Metropolitanos in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match11 Mar 2028
Metropolitanos left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Jesús Chima
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Lucas da Cruz 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
Squad6 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match4 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miguel Martinez and Llaneros agree another 3 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Miguel Martinez 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 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darwin Otero, and the manager let it.
Match4 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Trujillanos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market6 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Marked 5.35, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
5.33. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 Feb 2028
Anger at Llaneros spills outside the ground
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Francisco Machis out for 113 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Feb 2028
Chastening afternoon for Llaneros
A 0‑5 beating by Caracas was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Andres Martinez: 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
A chastening introduction for Sergio Murillo — 5.66
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.66 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Miguel Martinez 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Gómez, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Llaneros dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jan 2028
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Miguel Martinez 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Roca 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The mood at Llaneros 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.
Match29 Nov 2027
Llaneros are in real trouble now
Position 16, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
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.
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad29 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Junior Murillo damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Miguel Martinez 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Junior 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Junior Murillo
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Llaneros lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Junior Murillo: 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.
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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Junior Murillo
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Llaneros lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Miguel Martinez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Junior 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
52 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Llaneros pull $2.2M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Llaneros 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.
Match1 Nov 2027
Llaneros are in real trouble now
Position 16, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Junior Murillo
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Llaneros lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
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.
Market1 Nov 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.
Squad1 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Junior Murillo
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Llaneros lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Oct 2027
Jose Arango 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.
Squad18 Oct 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Junior Murillo damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Llaneros may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Miguel Martinez 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
Match6 Sep 2027
Llaneros sink to position 16
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“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.
Market30 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2027
27 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 27, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Market19 Jul 2027
$3.6M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Market19 Jul 2027
Llaneros say no — this time
The offer from Mineros de Guayana for Jose Arango was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Llaneros sell a favourite for $3.6M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Junior Gonzalez was one of the reasons people came, and $3.6M does not replace that by itself.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Christian Gómez 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Llaneros
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match17 Jul 2027
Deportivo La Guaira left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Junior 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Oscar Rosales
“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
Crisis
Match10 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Llaneros
26 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.
Match12 Jul 2027
Every point is an argument now for Llaneros
Position 16 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
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 Jul 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Daniel Roca 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Junior Murillo
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
23 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Jun 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Llaneros say no — this time
The offer from Zulia for Jose Arango was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Miguel Martinez 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Roca 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Martinez, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Cristian Murillo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match19 Jun 2027
It needed Darwin Otero to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Trujillanos, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Market7 Jun 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Jun 2027
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Christian Gómez 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Junior 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Darwin Otero
“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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Junior Gonzalez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Market3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Daniel Roca 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“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 Llaneros, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces3 May 2027
The crowd has taken to Jose Arango
At 23 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Junior Murillo, and the manager let it.
Match1 May 2027
It needed Jose Uribe to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Portuguesa, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Apr 2027
15 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Market26 Apr 2027
Jose Arango 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Llaneros may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Miguel Martinez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Junior 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darwin Otero, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Market29 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Mar 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Mar 2027
Estudiantes de Merida left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yeferson Rondon commits to Llaneros for another 4 years.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Christian Gómez'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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
5.22. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Marked 5.45. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Llaneros
Position 16 and 4 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Miguel Martinez 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Roca 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Martinez, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Llaneros told Darwin Otero something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A mark of 5.29 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Christian Gómez 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
5.33 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Fernando Ramirez damages knee ligaments — 46 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Market4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Llaneros have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Murillo 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Jose Arango 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
$420.0K. Fees like that buy a footballer and rent a debate: every touch will be measured against the number for a season at least.
Market28 Dec 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Miguel Martinez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Ricardo Hernández Marchesano from Trujillanos for $420.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Junior 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Murillo 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“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
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Darwin Otero and Llaneros agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Daniel Roca 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Junior Murillo
“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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oscar Rosales. 1‑0 against Aragua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 7.32. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 5.67. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.