Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Andorra have accepted the money. What Burgos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Burgos close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 6 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.
Burgos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Basel, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Curro 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Unai Vencedor has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 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.
Burgos asked and Andorra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Víctor Mollejo commits to Burgos for another 4 years.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Mateo Mejía has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Burgos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jon Karrikaburu was one of the reasons people came, and $25.7M does not replace that by itself.
Burgos moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Ricardo Diez, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Fabricio Acosta is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Curro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Pol Tristán has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Burgos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Burgos, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Burgos asked and Avellino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Huesca have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gustavo Rigazzi. The answer from Burgos has not changed — yet.
Unai Vencedor 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Roma have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignasi Vilarrasa 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Burgos, another week without a signature from Jacob Morales.
“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 Burgos, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Burgos asked and Vasco da Gama 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 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jon Karrikaburu has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I watch every Burgos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Oviedo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Burgos has been clear about where Gustavo Rigazzi stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burgos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Avellino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Burgos asked and Grasshopper said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignasi Vilarrasa 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Álex Lizancos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Víctor Mollejo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Burgos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burgos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Burgos asked and Barcelona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignasi Vilarrasa 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.
Chamois Niortais have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Burgos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The offer went to Castellón 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.
The chase for Víctor San Bartolomé ended with $1.7M changing hands and Albacete out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Curro 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignasi Vilarrasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Burgos has been clear about where Víctor Villacañas stands, which is more than many ever get.
The clubs have shaken hands with Albacete; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Álex Forés was one of the reasons people came, and $26.1M does not replace that by itself.
The fee is $1.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Deportivo La Coruña drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Burgos can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Burgos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Burgos have done the hard part with Deportivo La Coruña, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burgos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Pol Tristán 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 Jun 2027
Pol Tristán has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pablo Galdames trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Burgos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Burgos asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignasi Vilarrasa 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 clubs have shaken hands with Córdoba; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Fermín has gone, the accounts have $3.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Córdoba paid $3.5M and Burgos took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Curro 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Roma have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Álex Forés is on it.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 62 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A brace, and Álex Forés takes the afternoon — 8.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álex Forés provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
“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 Burgos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Álex Forés wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Álex Forés found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Andorra went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignasi Vilarrasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of José Gragera
Player ratingsLuciano Pérez turns it into his own net
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.
At 15 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignasi Vilarrasa, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Ricardo Diez to a room that had heard them before.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jon Karrikaburu provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Curro 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
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Fermín was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.35. 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.
David González 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 May 2027
Ante Rebić falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Curro 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 Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Jon Karrikaburu had Burgos level again within 2 minutes, and Las Palmas never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout3 May 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 1‑2 Ricardo Diez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jon Karrikaburu. 2‑1 against Málaga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
7.77, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Burgos support went home talking about one name.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Curro's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Burgos, another week without a signature from Guillermo Pfund.
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.
In brief
The dugoutBraian Lluy dropped after a run of poor form
Two goals and a mark of 9.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jon Karrikaburu provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Burgos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Burgos will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
David González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Curro 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.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pablo Galdames trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ricardo Diez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Burgos dressing room was either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burgos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Curro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Burgos 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.” Ricardo Diez, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
José Gragera 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
6 goals in one match, Jon Karrikaburu on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Burgos and Granada.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout15 Mar 2027
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 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Ricardo Diez to a room that had heard them before.
Real Sociedad B will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Burgos were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Álex Lizancos 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.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
In brief
SquadGetting past Ander Cantero has become the hardest job in the division
Curro 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
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oier Luengo 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jon Karrikaburu provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Curro 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jon Karrikaburu. 2‑1 against Eibar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and Burgos 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ricardo Diez on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Burgos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Cultural Leonesa kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Burgos will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Oier Luengo falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ricardo Diez chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gonzalo Guerrero has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tomás Diez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.18, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Burgos until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Burgos heard it as anything else.
Curro 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 Feb 2027
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Burgos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Betis have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Oier Luengo falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Almería had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Something was said to Unai Vencedor and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutCurro is still being punished for one mistake
Squad7 new faces, and Burgos are still learning each other
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Burgos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fabricio Acosta has just signed for Burgos, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Burgos had all but put away. Cádiz will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Burgos asked and Espanyol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Burgos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Real Sociedad, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martín Ramos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Felipe Fernández has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Oier Luengo falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Jon Karrikaburu at his very best
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Santiago Martín Pereyra has, at Burgos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Curro 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oier Luengo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Real Sociedad have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It finished 0-11. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Match23 Dec 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Burgos and Real Madrid in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
1 for Unai Vencedor, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
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.
Curro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oier Luengo 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
5 new faces, and Burgos 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.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Pol Tristán 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Curro 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 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lautaro Ayala is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Oier Luengo is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Víctor Mollejo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Burgos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Unai Vencedor 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.
Málaga left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oier Luengo 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignasi Vilarrasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ricardo Diez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ander Cantero is on it.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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 is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Burgos scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
1 for Unai Vencedor, marked 7.48, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Curro 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.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.88, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Santiago Lencina 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ricardo Diez on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jeremías Ruiz has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Burgos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Pol Tristán 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Burgos has been clear about where Braian Lluy stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Burgos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutPablo Galdames asks for a word with the manager
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
7.87, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gragera 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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ricardo Diez chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Jeremías Ruiz is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Unai Vencedor 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlos Montero is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jan Aguilar is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignasi Vilarrasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 combined actions and 7.12. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Real Sociedad B scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David González 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Álex Forés. 1‑0 against Valladolid, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
0‑3 to Eibar, 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.
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gragera 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.
13 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 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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Álex Forés 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.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
1 for Unai Vencedor, marked 7.82, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Burgos will try again when the window opens; Córdoba may not be selling by then.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Iván Gallardo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jaime Fernández has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Córdoba have accepted the money. What Burgos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 22 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Álex Forés is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Santiago Lencina, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.02
A mark of 8.02 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
12 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ricardo Diez on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Burgos 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.
Burgos asked and Everton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Cádiz had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The offer from Gijón for David González 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.
Burgos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Deportivo La Coruña, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Curro 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.
Burgos asked and Arsenal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Burgos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gragera 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Burgos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Add another name to the list: Huesca have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mario Cantero. The answer from Burgos has not changed — yet.
Burgos asked and Getafe said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Duran is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Enrique Cortés is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Pol Torres has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Coruña have kept their man, and Burgos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Leganés have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Brais Martínez. The answer from Burgos has not changed — yet.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Burgos have made the call to Girona. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Burgos 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.
In brief
The dugoutDavid González asks for a word with the manager