Marked for Benjamin Beausejour
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Mar 2033
“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 The request is on a desk at Universidad de Chile, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Mar 2033
Iván Guaraz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad de Chile they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market7 Mar 2033
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universidad de Chile can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Victor Hugo 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 dugout7 Mar 2033
The manager makes an example of Samuel Portugal
“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.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Efe Aghama 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.
Match5 Mar 2033
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match5 Mar 2033
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Santiago Wanderers; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Roméo Amané named player of the month
The award goes to Roméo Amané, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2033
Esteban Calderón damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market24 Jan 2033
Manuel Ugarte 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 Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Jan 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Chile is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market24 Jan 2033
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Bernard Nguene wants continental football; whether Universidad de Chile can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernard Nguene 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.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Lucas Romero in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Chile this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bayron Martínez, and the manager let it.
Loan watch24 Jan 2033
“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 Universidad de Chile, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Iquique have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market13 Dec 2032
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2032
A muscle injury sidelines Nicolás Orellana for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Iquique will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad13 Dec 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2032
Universidad de Chile wanted more than $5.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2032
Iquique asked and Universidad Catolica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market13 Dec 2032
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2032
Iquique have made the call to Universidad de Chile. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout13 Dec 2032
Román González knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Iquique, and both men came out saying it was fine.