Marked for Mathías Tomás
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Erik Pimentel out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puebla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Aug 2027
He is 17, he is averaging 6.51, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Market30 Aug 2027
Chiapas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Puebla did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Puebla
Luan 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Angel Jimenez
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Puebla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Gularte 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Jose Gallardo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Baltazar
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puebla lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Aug 2027
56 days out for Erik Pimentel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puebla will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market16 Aug 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Puebla's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Puebla has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Puebla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Puebla
Luan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market16 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done: Ángel Romero joins from Guadalajara in a deal worth $76.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Puebla
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puebla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Erik Pimentel breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 2027
Puebla say no — this time
The offer from Chiapas for Juan Gómez 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
$330.0K was the most the club would pay and Tijuana 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Puebla 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.
The dugout19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Puebla have made José Pachuca available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
113 days out for Erik Pimentel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puebla will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Carlos Baltazar damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Fee done, terms next for Bruno Méndez
Puebla and Toluca have settled on $3.7M. 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 targets28 Jun 2027
The offer went to Cruz Azul 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.
Market28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 23 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The deal with River Plate is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market28 Jun 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Puebla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Puebla will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market31 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fernando Monarrez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Puebla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Mathías Tomás
“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.
Market31 May 2027
“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 dugout31 May 2027
Eduardo Mustre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Puebla will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Puebla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Puebla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Organista 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oscar Villa, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Alonso Ramírez 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 Puebla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Cavallini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Puebla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch 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 Puebla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Organista 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
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Puebla has been clear about where Carlos Henríquez stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puebla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Puebla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
José Pachuca 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Nahuel Valiñas
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Puebla
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 Apr 2027
Juan Gómez told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Juan Gómez has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Puebla.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Mathías Tomás 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 Puebla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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.
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 Puebla, another week without a signature from Eduardo Ramsés Navarro.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
José Pachuca: 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.” Puebla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 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 Puebla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mario Anaya and Puebla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Mathías Tomás 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 Puebla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Mar 2027
Daniel Haces is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Puebla has been clear about where Daniel Haces stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
0‑3 to Santos Laguna, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Puebla 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Nahuel Valiñas
“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.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
The chances came and went for Emiliano Gómez
5 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Feb 2027
Ignacio Maestro Puch had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Veracruz were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.22 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market15 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puebla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Puebla asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jesús Iván Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Ignacio Maestro Puch was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
The game went through Brayan Garnica — 7.10
Marked 7.10 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match13 Feb 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Emiliano Gómez takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emiliano Gómez provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Eduardo Mustre: 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.” Puebla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 3‑1 win over Morelia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ignacio Maestro Puch 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
At last: Puebla win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Morelia. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.” Jose Gallardo, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
Chances created: 10. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Emiliano Gómez takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emiliano Gómez provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match19 Dec 2026
Puebla are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match19 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for Puebla
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Puebla are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Puebla
Ignacio Maestro Puch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market21 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Puebla against Pachuca
2‑3 to Pachuca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nobody at Puebla will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
Nowhere to hide for Puebla
0‑4 against Club America, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad14 Dec 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match12 Dec 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Puebla
8 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Puebla
4 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.
Squad14 Dec 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 Puebla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathías Tomás, and the manager let it.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
Doors closed at Puebla
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
A promise honoured at Puebla
Something was said to José Pachuca and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puebla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Puebla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 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 Puebla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Mario Anaya
At 21 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Puebla may not be able to give Mathías Tomás what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mathías Tomás wants continental football; whether Puebla can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ignacio Maestro Puch’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Puebla.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jose Gallardo on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout19 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Puebla
0‑3 against Pachuca, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Puebla's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Puebla 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 Puebla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 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 Puebla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Match22 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Puebla
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Puebla asked and Boca Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Owen González
“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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Doors closed at Puebla
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.