Marked for Gullit Peña
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
85 days out for Jhan Rengifo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dorados will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Dorados
Jhon Acurio 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Estrada 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 dugout17 May 2027
Gullit Peña 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
Market17 May 2027
Dorados have let the market know Franco González can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Jhan Rengifo out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dorados will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dorados have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market10 May 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Alan Ramos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Ramos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dorados the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Dorados
Jhon Acurio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josué Reyes 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“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 Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Dorados boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dorados may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout3 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Dorados
Luis Arcadio García and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Estrada 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 dugout3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$5.0M taken back off the Dorados table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Dorados
Luis Arcadio García 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvador Manríquez 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dorados may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Alan Ramos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Ramos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dorados the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Dorados
Luis Arcadio García and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Estrada 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 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Gullit Peña
“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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dorados, another week without a signature from Juan Carlos Lescano.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Félix Villacorta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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 Daniel Cervantes has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
“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 Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Josué Reyes: 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.” Dorados have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Félix Villacorta and Dorados agree another 3 years.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Dorados
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Estrada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Dionicio Escalante has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Dorados.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Jhon Acurio makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market5 Apr 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dorados, another week without a signature from Luciano Cariaga.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Feb 2027
19 matches without a win for Dorados
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Dorados are no longer polite ones.
Match1 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Dorados
Position 18 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Supporters organise against the Dorados 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Nowhere to hide for Dorados
0‑3 against Toluca, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match27 Feb 2027
6 matches without a goal for Dorados
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Luis Arcadio García 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Dorados
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Estrada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Dorados's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dorados has to find a result from somewhere.
Match1 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Dorados
Position 17 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the Dorados 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Dorados
A 0‑3 beating by Puebla was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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 Dorados, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Veracruz is saying, and nobody at Dorados is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Dorados close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruz Azul have kept their man, and Dorados go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Dorados
Jhon Acurio 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
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
12 matches without a win for Dorados
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Dorados are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Cruz Azul, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Fee done, terms next for Juan Liceaga
Dorados and Guadalajara have settled on $100.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Dorados
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvador Manríquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Dorados
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Dorados can tell you which week it ends in.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Santiago Montes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match9 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Monterrey, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Dorados
A 0‑7 beating by Toluca was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jano Coronel 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dorados and Toluca in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Josué Reyes, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Dorados
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvador Manríquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Beaten 7 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Gullit Peña
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Dorados dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout2 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 0‑7 defeat, delivered by Rodolfo Ochoa to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 Aug 2026
Dorados bow out of the cup
Morelia go through and Dorados go home, 0‑6 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
A cup hiding at Morelia leaves Dorados explaining themselves
0-6, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Dorados's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dorados has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 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 Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Dorados
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
An offer of $48.0K for Alan Guzmán
Dorados have gone to Pumas UNAM 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.
Match19 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Dorados and Morelia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match22 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Dorados against Atlas
1‑3 to Atlas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.