Marked for Junior Herrera
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Match17 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Juan David Vélez 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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Loan watch19 Jul 2027
“I watch every Llaneros game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Lara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad19 Jul 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Deportivo La Guaira leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 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.
Match29 May 2027
7 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 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.
Squad31 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 May 2027
0‑1 to Atletico Venezuela, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 May 2027
Léo wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Llaneros know it.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ismael Torres, and the manager let it.
Loan watch31 May 2027
“I watch every Llaneros game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Lara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Llaneros
6 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.
Market24 May 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Juan David Vélez 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.
Squad24 May 2027
He is 21, he is averaging 7.04, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Player ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.63, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 May 2027
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Victor 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch24 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 4 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 1‑4 by Deportivo Tachira, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match22 Mar 2027
Llaneros sink to position 16
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 29 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan David Vélez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Llaneros
11 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match24 Feb 2027
Llaneros march on in the cup
Caracas are out and Llaneros go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Deportivo Lara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Llaneros and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad1 Mar 2027
35 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yeferson Ferraresi commits to Llaneros for another 1 years.
Market5 Oct 2026
Llaneros bring in an old head
Federico Sardella is 38 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jose Moreno is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager comes out for Jose Herrera
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Jose Herrera has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
David Ramirez 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.
Squad3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jose Herrera and Llaneros agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.