Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezequiel Ponce 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 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 Grady Diangana is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Elche know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Leonel Galeano has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ignacio Sinturión trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 The request is on a desk at Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignacio Sinturión will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezequiel Ponce 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 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 David Mella is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alejandro Iturbe signs something — a contract at Elche or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Galo Galarza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Elche has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 May 2030
Buba Sangaré 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergio Macías has just signed for Elche, and for once the answer mattered.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Matías Kranevitter has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Elche have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Nobody at Elche 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.
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.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Las Palmas were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Yago Santiago was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
The dugout6 May 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Oihan Campos kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 Alejandro Iturbe is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Axel Werner
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezequiel Ponce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
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 1‑3 Oihan Campos left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignacio Sinturión will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Buba Sangaré 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Elche pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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.
Málaga will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Alberto Stegman has pre-agreed a move to Elche, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Elche are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Ezequiel Ponce 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 Buba Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mirandés will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Federico Ortiz has pre-agreed a move to Elche, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Marked 8.34 — 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Albacete scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
8 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Elche know it.
Successful dribbles: 39. 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.
Ezequiel Ponce 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Buba Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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 Alejandro Iturbe is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rúben Pereira 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 is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Oihan Campos after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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 Buba Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑7 against Real Madrid, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Elche and Real Madrid, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Buba Sangaré 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcelo Tinari will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignacio Sinturión will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alejandro Iturbe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Buba Sangaré 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Martim Neto will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Elche escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ignacio Sinturión has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Buba Sangaré 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Elche asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Elche had all but put away. Leganés will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Elche may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Elche close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 8 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.
Ezequiel Ponce 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 Buba Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Castellón is saying, and nobody at Elche is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match26 Jan 2030
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Elche and Barcelona in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Elche asked and Rayo Vallecano 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: Albacete have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ignacio Sinturión. The answer from Elche has not changed — yet.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elche have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Qasem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Elche have done the hard part with Athletic Bilbao, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Yan Diomandé was one of the reasons people came, and $77.8M does not replace that by itself.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The offer from Zaragoza for Tomás Pizarro 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mohammed Qasem has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
Gijón will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ahmed Azaouagh has pre-agreed a move to Elche, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Yan Diomandé’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Elche.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Yan Diomandé 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.
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.
Nobody at Elche 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Oihan Campos on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Axel Werner
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Yan Diomandé 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.
He is 22 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Yan Diomandé at his very best
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Villarreal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Oihan Campos to a room that had heard them before.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Yan Diomandé 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Elche are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 David Mella is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Yan Diomandé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Alejandro Iturbe 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Oihan Campos could afford to be generous.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
A brace, and Yan Diomandé takes the afternoon — 8.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yan Diomandé provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexis Canelo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Yan Diomandé 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 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.
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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Elche can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Correia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
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 Oihan Campos left the room before anybody could ask which.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejandro Iturbe, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
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 Oihan Campos left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Alejandro Iturbe is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Qasem 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Yago Santiago has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Federico Redondo scored, was marked 7.64, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Yan Diomandé 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.
50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
David Mella was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. 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.
Castellón go through and Elche go home, 4‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Castellón the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Elche will enjoy reviewing.
1 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.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oihan Campos after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
In brief
The dugoutYago Santiago is still being punished for one mistake
A brace, and Yan Diomandé takes the afternoon — 8.47
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yan Diomandé provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deal that would have taken Marcos Correia to Zaragoza has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Elche with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Yan Diomandé 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Elche will try again when the window opens; Deportivo La Coruña may not be selling by then.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elche have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Deportivo La Coruña 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.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Elche 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 have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Atalanta 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Almería have kept their man, and Elche go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aquiles Mansilla has just signed for Elche, and for once the answer mattered.
Elche offered $68.0K; Castellón said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Castellón will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mateo Albornoz has pre-agreed a move to Elche, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alexis Canelo has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ezequiel Ponce 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 morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Elche asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Biel Cruz 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. Juan Bravo 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. Fernando Vázquez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Esteghlal, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: LOSC Lille keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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
SquadWords at Elche training over how hard people work
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zaragoza waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Elche is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with LOSC Lille, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alexis Canelo 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.
In brief
The dugoutBuba Sangaré asks for a word with the manager
SquadMatia Barzic falls out with a teammate over standards
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lazio is saying, and nobody at Elche is enjoying the guessing.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Alexis Canelo has improved at 37, 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Elche are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Elche has been clear about where Lluís stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Elche have done the hard part with Lazio, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lazio have kept their man, and Elche go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Tomás Pizarro 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. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matia Barzic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The offer from Zaragoza for Marcos Correia 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Elche know now that the thought has arrived.
Nobody at Elche 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Elche know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elche have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Yan Diomandé 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.
At 27 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ignacio Sinturión is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 27 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Le Havre AC have kept their man, and Elche go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Valencia 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 offer from Mattersburg for Marcos Correia 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mauricio Nievas has, at Elche, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Elche had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at LOSC Lille, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Alejandro Iturbe 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.
Elche asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 David Mella is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Pizarro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elche people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Elche asked and Fiorentina 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Elche has been clear about where Alexis Canelo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elche, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Elche can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Iker Recio 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Elche can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market28 May 2029
A year in the wrong dressing room for Lucas Cuffia
He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at Elche argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Pizarro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Mella signs something — a contract at Elche or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elche, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Buba Sangaré
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
Jon Balda 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.
“I watch every Elche game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sport Recife runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and John Chetauya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Elche could ask drops and the wages Marcos Correia can ask rise.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Elche can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Elche has been clear about where Ramiro Paunero stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Yago Santiago is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yan Diomandé signs something — a contract at Elche or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Iker Recio 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.
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.
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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Buba Sangaré is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7.91, 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Jon Balda 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. David Mella 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.
Successful dribbles: 44. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Buba Sangaré, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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 Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Elche game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sport Recife runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Roy Revivo
18 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yan Diomandé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Iker Recio 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of John Chetauya
BoardroomNobody left the Elche dressing room in a hurry
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Iker Recio 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 Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 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 whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Yan Diomandé 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Elche and Andorra in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Iker Recio 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Elche know it.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alexis Canelo.
14 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Elche can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 22 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
13 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Elche and Real Madrid, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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 22 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Yan Diomandé at his very best
12 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Yan Diomandé 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 Iker Recio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oihan Campos after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Buba Sangaré
The dugoutDavid Mella has become a man the manager trusts
Looking aheadElche take on the side everybody is chasing
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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 Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Elche, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Elche has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
A brace, and Yago Santiago takes the afternoon — 9.14
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yago Santiago provided it, and the 9.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alejandro Iturbe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Jon Balda 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ignacio Bessone has just signed for Elche, and for once the answer mattered.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Eibar moved on, Marcos Correia reports back to Elche, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iker Recio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Elche asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Granada waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Elche is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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.
Elche asked and Mirandés said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
0‑5 to Barcelona, 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.
The offer from Eibar for Marcos Correia 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Jon Balda 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.
Tomás Pizarro 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
6 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.
Ezequiel Ponce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iker Recio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elche people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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.
Elche asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Minute 94, against Espanyol, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mirandés waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Elche is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Yan Diomandé wants continental football; whether Elche can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Yan Diomandé 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rúben Pereira and Elche agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Iker Recio 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche 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 Elche 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 Iker Recio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Elche will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oihan Campos after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Elche can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Add another name to the list: Sport Recife have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lucas Cuffia. The answer from Elche has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iker Recio 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 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Iker Recio 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.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Elche heard it as anything else.
Ezequiel Ponce 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 Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Athletic Bilbao, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Oihan Campos on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Mella has become a man the manager trusts
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Grady Diangana provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yan Diomandé 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.
7 goals in one match, Grady Diangana on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Elche and Andorra.
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.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Yan Diomandé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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 ratings20 Nov 2028
David Mella was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. 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.
Celta go through and Elche go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces13 Nov 2028
A cup hiding at Celta leaves Elche explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Yan Diomandé wants continental football; whether Elche can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Balda 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 long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Elche know now that the thought has arrived.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Elche dressing room in a hurry
Successful dribbles: 32. 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 have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roy Revivo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7.94, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Elche had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Buba Sangaré'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 ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yan Diomandé did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 dugout30 Oct 2028
Roy Revivo 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.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Elche can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Yan Diomandé, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22
A mark of 8.22 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Iker Recio 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Elche and Gijón, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Gijón made Elche work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Jon Balda 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Jon Balda 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oihan Campos after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 David Mella is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elche, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche 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 Iker Recio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Yan Diomandé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Jon Balda 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Elche scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Yan Diomandé, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.20
A mark of 8.20 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elche is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: John Chetauya. 3‑2 against Alavés, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Jon Balda 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Yan Diomandé 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑3 to Barcelona, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elche will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roy Revivo 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Elche close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 14 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Elche heard it as anything else.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
0‑5 to Betis, 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Albacete for Blas Rolón 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yan Diomandé did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Add another name to the list: Rosenborg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rubén Sánchez. The answer from Elche has not changed — yet.
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.
Yan Diomandé 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.
In brief
SquadRoy Revivo has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Boardroom4 academy players handed senior numbers at Elche
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Yan Diomandé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Víctor Chust has improved at 28, 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. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Elche asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Elche have made the call to Blackburn Rovers. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
“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 Elche hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Redondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yan Diomandé 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ramiro Paunero is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Martim Neto 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jon Balda wants continental football; whether Elche can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Yan Diomandé 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.
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 Grady Diangana is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yago Santiago trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lluís 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.
Nobody at Elche 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roy Revivo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Elche know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elche will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Real Sociedad for David Mella 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Dylan Tevreden had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lluís was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tete Morente 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.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Mella has become a man the manager trusts
The offer from Köln for Alejandro Iturbe 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elche they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Yan Diomandé 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 Jon Balda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 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.