Marked for Junior Machis
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
84 days out for Roberto Casseres after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Llaneros will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Junior Machis 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
An unwelcome headline for Oscar Rincon
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Francisco Soteldo 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 Dec 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando Cordova 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafael Gonzalez, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Alianza Lima have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Estudiantes have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Llaneros has been clear about where Fernando Gonzalez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Francisco Soteldo 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 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Rincon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Moreno and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes Rafael Otero a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Llaneros. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Francisco Soteldo 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“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
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Llaneros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes Rafael Otero a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Llaneros. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Fernando Cordova 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.
Squad14 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando Cordova 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Rafael Gonzalez
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luis Savarino and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market24 Aug 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Llaneros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Llaneros will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.