Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CE Europa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
Joaquín Petino 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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CE Europa, another week without a signature from Juan Flere.
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.
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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at CE Europa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Ives Valou 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at CE Europa pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CE Europa has been clear about where Julián Mahicas stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
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.
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.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
A 1‑1 draw with Hércules leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Parra was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the CE Europa dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. CE Europa told Marcel Sgró something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
CE Europa have gone to Tenerife 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.
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.
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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at CE Europa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mariano Vázquez 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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Real Sociedad keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
CE Europa asked and Tenerife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.