Marked for Juan Gutiérrez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Elche's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Elche has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vicente Cano breaks a bone — 17 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Jan 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Elche
Ezequiel Ponce and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Elche
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roy Revivo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 Jan 2029
Betis take the points off Elche
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Gutiérrez and Elche agree another 4 years.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Elche pick somebody else ahead of Pedro Bigas
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Elche
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2028
The wait goes on for Elche
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Elche
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Elche
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Bigas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joaquín Vera, and the manager let it.
Match30 Sep 2028
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Elche had all but put away. Alavés will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
A mark of 7.77, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Ali Houary'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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elche people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Adrià Vilanova: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market7 Aug 2028
Zaragoza pay $1.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Elche
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Juan Gutiérrez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad7 Aug 2028
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Buba Sangaré and Elche agree another 5 years.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Elche asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Miguel Falé 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Luis Hernández
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Elche lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Juan Gutiérrez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Elche's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Elche has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Elche
Ezequiel Ponce and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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
Thomas Lemar 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Pedro Bigas
“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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Elche come up short against Betis
Betis left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Alejandro Iturbe, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.