Marked for Daniel Castillo
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
Llaneros bow out of the cup
Caracas go through and Llaneros go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Malmo FF 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Llaneros
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.
Squad17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Soteldo 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cristian Martinez commits to Llaneros for another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Aragua, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market10 Aug 2026
Jose Rosales 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jose Ferraresi and Llaneros agree another 3 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Castillo again, and this time the name on the line is Malmo FF. Llaneros are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alejandro Moreno 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Héctor Bello, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Both jobs done by Jose Rosales — 6.52
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.52, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
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
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Jose Ferraresi 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 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cristian Soteldo commits to Llaneros for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Cristian Soteldo 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniel Castillo
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.