Marked for Chicharito
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Dec 2026
Santos Laguna will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Guadalajara were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Luis Romo scores twice — 8.56
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Brian Gutiérrez takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Brian Gutiérrez provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Guadalajara have 4 straight wins of it.
Market28 Dec 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfonso Blanco 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Guadalajara right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alfonso Blanco 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 2‑0 win over Veracruz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Esteban Mendoza
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Guadalajara will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Market21 Dec 2026
Óscar Whalley is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Guadalajara has been clear about where Óscar Whalley stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Christian Vega on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
4 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑3 by Club America in the one fixture where losing is not allowed. The football was bad enough; the week ahead will be worse.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Chicharito: 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.” Guadalajara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Carlos Hernández is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfonso Blanco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Roberto Alvarado at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Guadalajara.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Govea, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Guadalajara told Richard Ledezma something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Christian Vega to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guadalajara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
The neighbours are next for Guadalajara
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Club America on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Chicharito dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Venezia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Chicharito 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Brian Gutiérrez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Toluca left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Alfonso Blanco
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 57 days on the sidelines for Sebastián Bucio, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Christian Vega after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A mark of 3.77 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Diego Campillo 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tyler Deric was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Chicharito
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Richard Ledezma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Carlos Hernández is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Pachuca, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Luis Romo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Market19 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Miguel Ángel Tapias has his answer from Guadalajara; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Christian Vega kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Chances created: 9. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ricardo Marín 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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Morelia next, and one man in the Guadalajara dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Kevin Castañeda: 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.” Guadalajara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Hugo Camberos is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Guadalajara are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Something was said to Chicharito and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Guadalajara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Venezia 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Ángel Sepúlveda 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Richard Ledezma’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pachuca in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
Luis Romo puts it in writing
“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 Guadalajara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Luis Romo pops up at the right end — 7.99
7.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Market14 Sep 2026
Dorados come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Guadalajara did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bryan González 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Guadalajara can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luis Romo. 1‑0 against Monterrey, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Miguel Ángel Tapias 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Guadalajara offered $4.9M; Club America 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Guadalajara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Guadalajara close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Hugo Camberos to Morelia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Guadalajara with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer from Morelia for Jonathan Pérez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market7 Sep 2026
Renato Tapia wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Guadalajara hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Chicharito stands down from international duty
“109 caps is more than I ever expected, and it is time somebody else had them.” At 38 he is finished with his country and nowhere near finished with Guadalajara.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Pumas UNAM come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Guadalajara did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Guadalajara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$3.7M was the most the club would pay and Slavia Prague were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Luis Romo goes up and wins it — 7.80
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.80 for the rest of it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Fabrizio Sartori comes from Independiente Rivadavia for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bryan González, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Renato Tapia in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Guadalajara are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Guadalajara 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
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Guadalajara have gone to Al Wasl with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Guadalajara asked and Toluca 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 targets3 Aug 2026
The offer went to Independiente Rivadavia this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roberto Alvarado commits to Guadalajara for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Richard Ledezma 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Veracruz left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.