Marked for Luis Herrera
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Llaneros may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Herrera 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darwin Casseres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 2026
Llaneros have let the market know Darwin Casseres can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 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 The request is on a desk at Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Herrera 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
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Herrera 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Juan Savarino knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Savarino trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Llaneros
Darwin Rondon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Herrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francisco Arango commits to Llaneros for another 3 years.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Victor Otero gets it from the manager
“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 dugout31 Aug 2026
Sergio Herrera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Llaneros will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market31 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yeferson Rincon signs something — a contract at Llaneros or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market31 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Carlos Ramirez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout31 Aug 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
Match19 Aug 2026
Llaneros bow out of the cup
Mineros de Guayana go through and Llaneros go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match19 Aug 2026
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.
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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Andres Savarino is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Carlos Machis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. David Machis has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Juan Gonzalez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Luis Herrera
“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
Match8 Aug 2026
Yeferson Rincon had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Aragua were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Darwin Rondon and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Llaneros
Darwin Rondon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Rafael 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Sergio Herrera 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Roberto Machis at his very best
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
Match8 Aug 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Darwin Rondon knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darwin Rondon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Diego Machis chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.