Marked for Jon Pacheco
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad28 Jun 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 Real Sociedad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
The goals keep arriving from Mikel Goti’s exile
9 goals in 41 games at Córdoba — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Real Sociedad updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market28 Jun 2027
Osasuna are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Real Sociedad will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mikel Oyarzábal signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jon Gorrotxategi 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom31 May 2027
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Squad31 May 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 Real Sociedad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
Yangel Herrera 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 Real Sociedad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch31 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Mikel Goti’s exile
9 goals in 40 games at Córdoba — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Real Sociedad updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom17 May 2027
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Alavés
Lucas Boyé 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.
Squad17 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Alavés boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match29 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Alavés
Position 18 and 30 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match27 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Toni Martínez. 2‑1 against Rayo Vallecano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jon Pacheco 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 Alavés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 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 Alavés, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Alavés
5 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Alavés
Pol Lirola 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 8.45 — 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
89% of the income goes out in wages at Alavés
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jon Pacheco 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
It needed Toni Martínez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mallorca, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Shots: 5, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 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 Alavés, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alavés may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Alavés
Pol Lirola 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.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match12 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
The goals keep arriving from Allen Obando’s exile
9 goals in 17 games at Istra 1961 — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Alavés updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Pablo Ibañez
Defensive actions: 39. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Antonio Sivera: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match7 Nov 2026
A hiding for Alavés
Beaten 1‑4 by Real Madrid, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match4 Nov 2026
The cup run ends for Alavés
0‑0 against Valencia, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Alavés's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alavés has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Jon Pacheco
Defensive actions: 30. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Álex Guti runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Alavés
Dani Parejo 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Alavés
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Alavés are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pol Lirola, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.80 — 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Lucas Boyé
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.46 — 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Jon Pacheco 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 Alavés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Mallorca leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.