Marked for Alejandro Machis
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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Machis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Junior Ferraresi 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alejandro Machis 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.
Squad31 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Rosales and Atletico Venezuela agree another 3 years.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market31 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Sergio Otero 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 Atletico Venezuela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Bohemians 1905 for Oscar Casseres 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Miguel Ramirez 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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jose Otero commits to Atletico Venezuela for another 3 years.
Market24 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rafael Murillo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
Deportivo Lara ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Atletico Venezuela are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Miguel Ramirez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
2‑3 to Carabobo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match15 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Yeferson Ramirez at 20 — 7.75
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yeferson Ramirez did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market10 Aug 2026
Sergio Otero 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 Atletico Venezuela can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alejandro Machis and Atletico Venezuela agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Victor Machis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Portuguesa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Andres 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andres Herrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Andres Ferraresi to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout10 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 Atletico Venezuela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Market3 Aug 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miguel Ramirez and Atletico Venezuela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Victor Machis 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Alejandro Machis 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Aragua, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Miguel Ramirez's contract
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.