Marked for Roberto Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces30 May 2033
Supporters organise against the Llaneros board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad30 May 2033
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Cristian Moreno 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.
Squad30 May 2033
Defences have started doubling up on Cristian Moreno
15 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings30 May 2033
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 May 2033
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout30 May 2033
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout30 May 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Martinez, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead30 May 2033
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Roberto Ramirez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Llaneros needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout30 May 2033
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces7 Feb 2033
Supporters organise against the Llaneros board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad7 Feb 2033
A fracture rules Pedro Victor out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Feb 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miguel Rondon and Llaneros agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Cristian Moreno 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.
Match5 Feb 2033
0‑2 to Estudiantes de Caracas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout7 Feb 2033
The manager makes an example of Erick Sarmiento
“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.
The dugout7 Feb 2033
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Bacci 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 dugout7 Feb 2033
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Jan 2033
Supporters organise against the Llaneros board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad10 Jan 2033
A fracture rules Pedro Victor out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Jan 2033
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Cristian Moreno 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2033
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2033
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Llaneros are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Llaneros, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Carlos Dávila arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2033
74 days out for Pedro Victor after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Llaneros will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market3 Jan 2033
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Roberto Ramirez gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Roberto Ramirez has just signed for Llaneros, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2033
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Llaneros have done the hard part with Deportivo Tachira, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Cristian Moreno 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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Tachira have kept their man, and Llaneros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jan 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roberto Ramirez and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Jan 2033
“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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2033
Deportivo Tachira have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.