Marked for Luis Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Nov 2035
Only the photograph left for Juan Méndez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Méndez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Marítimo de La Guaira the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market5 Nov 2035
“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 The request is on a desk at Marítimo de La Guaira, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Ignacio Mercado 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.
Squad5 Nov 2035
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Mayer Vidal 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 dugout5 Nov 2035
Mayer Vidal 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.
Market5 Nov 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Nov 2035
Darwin Murillo 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 Darwin Murillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Oct 2035
Ignacio Mercado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andres Rondon and Marítimo de La Guaira agree another 3 years.
Squad29 Oct 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bambang Firmansyah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
“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 dugout29 Oct 2035
Luis Ramirez asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market29 Oct 2035
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Marítimo de La Guaira money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Oct 2035
“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 Marítimo de La Guaira, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Marítimo de La Guaira is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mayer Vidal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
Luis Ramirez asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Oct 2035
Diego Rosales breaks a bone — 26 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Ignacio Mercado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Oct 2035
25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at Marítimo de La Guaira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mayer Vidal 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.
Market1 Oct 2035
“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
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 2035
Juan Méndez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Marítimo de La Guaira they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market10 Sep 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Marítimo de La Guaira can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Ignacio Mercado 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.
Market10 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Bambang Firmansyah 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 dugout10 Sep 2035
Luis Ramirez 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 Marítimo de La Guaira, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
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 Federico Martinez has written the date down.
Squad10 Sep 2035
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Questions about Larson Pirela on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Sep 2035
326 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Marítimo de La Guaira know what they have.
Market3 Sep 2035
Ibai Cruz 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 Marítimo de La Guaira can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Sep 2035
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Sep 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Mayer Vidal is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Mayer Vidal has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout3 Sep 2035
“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 dugout3 Sep 2035
Luis Ramirez asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout3 Sep 2035
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 Diego Gonzalez has written the date down.
Market3 Sep 2035
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Marítimo de La Guaira money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Aug 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Ramirez and Marítimo de La Guaira agree another 4 years.
Market6 Aug 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Marítimo de La Guaira, another week without a signature from Manuel Sanhouse Jr..
Squad6 Aug 2035
A place in the month's best eleven for Francisco Herrera
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Francisco Herrera has come out of that comparison in the side, and Marítimo de La Guaira have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
No hiding place for Ibai Cruz
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibai Cruz, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Luis Ramirez has moved up it.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Marítimo de La Guaira. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2034
Luis Ramirez is the young player of the season
Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 20-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2034
The paperwork begins on Weliton
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Marítimo de La Guaira have done the hard part with Corinthians, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2034
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olimpia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market18 Dec 2034
Yaracuyanos pay $31.0K, 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.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Mayer Vidal 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 targets18 Dec 2034
Marítimo de La Guaira asked and Caracas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2034
A loan enquiry to Racing Club: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout18 Dec 2034
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Nov 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Mayer Vidal 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.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Román Ruíz slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Román Ruíz is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout6 Nov 2034
Mateo Mina gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mateo Mina is on it.
Market6 Nov 2034
“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
Crisis
Match6 May 2034
0‑5 against Caracas, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match3 May 2034
1‑3 against Monagas, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match6 May 2034
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.
The dugout8 May 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mayer Vidal, and the manager let it.
Squad8 May 2034
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad8 May 2034
Luis Ramirez is the month’s best young player
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Marítimo de La Guaira will try not to make too much of it.
Boardroom8 May 2034
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
Upbeat
Squad3 Apr 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Apr 2034
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 Apr 2034
A month that belonged to Luis Ramirez
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Marítimo de La Guaira who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Player ratings3 Apr 2034
Lucas Muñoz ran the middle of the pitch — 6.59
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.59, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout3 Apr 2034
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings3 Apr 2034
Carlos Díaz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout3 Apr 2034
Diego Zúñiga 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.
Squad3 Apr 2034
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Agustin Barrios is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2034
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Marítimo de La Guaira lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad6 Mar 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 Mar 2034
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2034
A month that belonged to Luis Ramirez
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Marítimo de La Guaira who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Player ratings6 Mar 2034
Marked 7.28. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout6 Mar 2034
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings6 Mar 2034
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match4 Mar 2034
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Mineros de Guayana came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Feb 2034
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Marítimo de La Guaira are no longer polite ones.
Match4 Feb 2034
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad6 Feb 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marítimo de La Guaira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Feb 2034
0‑1 to Academia Puerto Cabello, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings6 Feb 2034
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market6 Feb 2034
“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.
The dugout6 Feb 2034
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Market6 Feb 2034
Diego Zúñiga is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Marítimo de La Guaira has been clear about where Diego Zúñiga stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad6 Feb 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo Mina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.