Marked for Jonathan Sanchez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Atlas
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.
Market6 Sep 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 Atlas can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Atlas close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market6 Sep 2027
Jorge Sánchez wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Atlas hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market6 Sep 2027
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Luís Esteves 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 ratings6 Sep 2027
Mateo García did the work nobody counts — 7.06
10 combined actions and 7.06. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Jonathan Sanchez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Sep 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 Atlas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
Nowhere to hide for Atlas
0‑3 against Leon, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market9 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Atlas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Aug 2027
Morelia come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atlas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Atlas
Camilo Vargas 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 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Atlas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luís Esteves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mateo García and Atlas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Aug 2027
50 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
Inquest at Atlas
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adonis Frías and Atlas agree another 5 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Atlas
Camilo Vargas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Atlas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adonis Frías 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Camilo Vargas
“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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Atlas come up short against Leon
Leon left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Diego Pineda 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cesar Ramirez 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Santiago Araujo 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jonathan Sanchez 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.