Marked for Tomás Suárez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Feb 2029
Supporters organise against the CE Europa 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.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at CE Europa
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at CE Europa is running low.
Match26 Feb 2029
CE Europa are in real trouble now
Position 18, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at CE Europa
Khalid Noureddine 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A row about effort at CE Europa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Jay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Young player of the week: Tomás Suárez
At 18 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammed Mallayev, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CE Europa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Meshack Babanzila has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Joan Puig 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 CE Europa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Real Murcia wanted more than $2.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The terraces19 Feb 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Suárez 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tomás Suárez. 2‑0 against Juventud Torremolinos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Alejandro Jay 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 dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Casper Bachke, and the manager let it.
Market19 Feb 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CE Europa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match16 Jan 2029
0‑4 to Castellón, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match20 Jan 2029
Tarazona will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CE Europa were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ibuki Nemoto takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market22 Jan 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CE Europa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad22 Jan 2029
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CE Europa have done the hard part with Barcelona, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
No deal for Baba Diocou at that price
CE Europa offered $1.2M; Tenerife said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Sep 2028
Pontevedra ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match23 Sep 2028
8 matches without a win for CE Europa
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around CE Europa are no longer polite ones.
Market25 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CE Europa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A muscle injury sidelines Joan Puig for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. CE Europa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Joan Puig 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
Sabadell left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Alejandro Jay 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Rubén Pulido 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at CE Europa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Jay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomás Suárez and CE Europa agree another 3 years.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Josu Gallastegui trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Tarazona in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market11 Sep 2028
Juan Flere linked with a move away
The name of Juan Flere keeps appearing in other people's back pages. CE Europa say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one CE Europa will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market11 Sep 2028
CE Europa opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Bautista Canabal stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Aug 2028
22 days out for Rubén Guerrero after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CE Europa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 Aug 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CE Europa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market28 Aug 2028
“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 CE Europa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CE Europa have done the hard part with Cádiz, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Khalid Noureddine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
Still no name above the door at CE Europa
Day 12 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
CE Europa asked and Universitario said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market28 Aug 2028
The name of Tomás Suárez has come up in conversations CE Europa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Alejandro Jay 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Aug 2028
Unionistas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and CE Europa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Khalid Noureddine 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 targets14 Aug 2028
CE Europa asked and Belgrano 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 dugout14 Aug 2028
Ibuki Nemoto 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Felipe Chéchile and CE Europa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Alejandro Jay 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.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
CE Europa have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
A loan enquiry to Valladolid: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad14 Aug 2028
5 new faces, and CE Europa are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 CE Europa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CE Europa have done the hard part with Cádiz, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market17 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Bautista Canabal again, and this time the name on the line is Teruel. CE Europa are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Khalid Noureddine 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 targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levante have kept their man, and CE Europa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Alejandro Jay 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 dugout17 Jul 2028
“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.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Rubén Pulido knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rubén Pulido trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Toni Caravaca
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Toni Caravaca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CE Europa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
No thanks: Roger Hinojo rejects the move
CE Europa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Espanyol, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Khalid Noureddine 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 targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Coruña have kept their man, and CE Europa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Antonio Martínez, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Alejandro Jay 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Levante: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Khalid Noureddine has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
Toni Caravaca has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CE Europa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 May 2028
Rubén Pulido 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at CE Europa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Jay 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 dugout22 May 2028
“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.
The dugout22 May 2028
Rubén Pulido 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 CE Europa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 May 2028
Tomás Suárez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market22 May 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Meshack Babanzila may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad22 May 2028
The training reports on Juan Flere are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Squad22 May 2028
The penny has dropped for Biel Marín
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at CE Europa the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CE Europa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joan Gaona commits to CE Europa for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Khalid Noureddine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 May 2028
Sevilla Atlético left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at CE Europa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Jay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejandro Jay, and the manager let it.
Loan watch8 May 2028
“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 CE Europa, and 9 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout8 May 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings8 May 2028
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. CE Europa lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Apr 2028
15 matches without a win for CE Europa
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around CE Europa are no longer polite ones.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rubén Pardo, and the manager let it.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CE Europa know it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at CE Europa
Yelco 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at CE Europa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roger Escoruela 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomás Suárez and CE Europa agree another 3 years.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
“I watch every CE Europa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Barakaldo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CE Europa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Arnau Campeny: 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.” CE Europa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Rubén Pardo, 35, rolls back the years — 8.09
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.09 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match11 Sep 2027
The drought breaks for CE Europa
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Atlético Madrileño were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Rubén Pulido 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 CE Europa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Joan Gaona is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Coruña have kept their man, and CE Europa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rubén Pardo. 1‑0 against Atlético Madrileño, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.