“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Carlos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Diego 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.
“I watch every Estudiantes de Caracas 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.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Victor Casseres
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
Darwin Ramirez 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.
In brief
SquadDiego Machis falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and 1 appearances in 41 say he has earned the hearing.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Darwin Ramirez 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.
In brief
SquadDiego Machis falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Diego 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Deportivo Lara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Estudiantes de Caracas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Andres Casseres's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Deportivo Lara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Estudiantes de Caracas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Savarino 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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. Trujillanos defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Estudiantes de Caracas have let the market know Rafael Rondon can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Estudiantes de Caracas has to find a result from somewhere.
Darwin Ramirez 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.
“I did not go to Deportivo Lara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Estudiantes de Caracas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Martinez 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
A mark of 8.19 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estudiantes de Caracas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Darwin Rondon 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.
At 21 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.
Aragua held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Estudiantes de Caracas answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Estudiantes de Caracas has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Carlos Machis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.79 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Machis 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.
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Estudiantes de Caracas.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Luis Curiel: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Lara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Darwin Rondon 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.
“I did not go to Deportivo Lara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Estudiantes de Caracas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Ronaldo Peña 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 words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.