21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Cristian Santana is 16, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Lavezzi 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Cantero provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Huesca 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.
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.
The deal that would have taken Ignacio Colombo to Leganés has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Huesca with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 The request is on a desk at Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
José Gayà 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ro Abajas has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Molina 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 words a physio says slowly. 54 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huesca 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 Huesca people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
José Gayà 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. Tomás Lavezzi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 26 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.
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca 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 Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huesca can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jesús Gallardo is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 37 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.
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 Agustín Quiroz has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutMarcos Pérez knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Huesca asked and Belgrano said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Óscar Sielva has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Huesca.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Molina 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.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Huesca lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Óscar Sielva was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Marcos Rilo 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.
Belgrano have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad26 Jul 2027
5 new faces, and Huesca are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jordi Martín trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca 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.
At 24 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.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Huesca, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Los Angeles Football Club is saying, and nobody at Huesca is enjoying the guessing.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jesús Gallardo is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Huesca asked and Sturm Graz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oihan Martínez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huesca lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Huesca can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Huesca and Betis have settled on $4.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The chase for Pedro Díaz ended with $6.9M changing hands and Rayo Vallecano out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The chase for José Gayà ended with $5.2M changing hands and Valencia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“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 Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Huesca hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Huesca lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rayo Vallecano; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
Óscar Sielva was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Lorient have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huesca can pretend not to have heard.
Huesca asked and Betis 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 Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have shaken hands with Valencia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
$7.7M on the table at Rayo Vallecano. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lugano have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marcos Pérez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oihan Peña has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Position 17 on 42 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A brace, and Daniel Luna takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Luna provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Álvaro Cortés, 15, plays like he has been here for years — 8.50
A mark of 8.50 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-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 Huesca can pretend not to have heard.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Cádiz were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Óscar Sielva 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.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take 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 Huesca 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Luna, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Márquez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Huesca dressing room was either.
Nobody at Huesca is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout24 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mateo Márquez to a room that had heard them before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julio Alonso trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad24 May 2027
Emir Faccioli 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 or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Vega is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
“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 Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alemão 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.
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 Sergi Enrich.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mateo Márquez to a room that had heard them before.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emir Faccioli 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tomás Lavezzi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Huesca and Las Palmas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Molina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca 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 Martín Pucheta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Mateo Márquez to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Diego Aznar had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Izei Romero has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
Martín Pucheta 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Huesca, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Add another name to the list: Nashville SC have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Diego Aznar. The answer from Huesca has not changed — yet.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emir Faccioli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 86, against Leganés, 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Leganés leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Márquez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Huesca dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huesca 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 Huesca 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 Emir Faccioli 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 Huesca will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Alemão 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Marcos Rilo
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huesca will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Javier Balbuena, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Mateo Márquez to a room that had heard them before.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Successful dribbles: 42. 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. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Real Salt Lake had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Huesca, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alemão. 2‑0 against Real Sociedad B, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 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 Huesca can pretend not to have heard.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Piña scored, was marked 7.79, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Lorenzo have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kiko Olivas 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 Martín Pucheta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.68 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huesca can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huesca have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Óscar Sielva 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 Huesca and Eibar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alemão provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Huesca people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Huesca asked and Sarmiento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Dani Ojeda was one of the reasons people came, and $3.7M does not replace that by itself.
Dani Ojeda has left for Betis in a $3.7M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Huesca close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 4 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Boca Juniors is saying, and nobody at Huesca is enjoying the guessing.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Dani Ojeda will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Huesca escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Dani Ojeda takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dani Ojeda provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Huesca, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Boca Juniors 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Piast waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Huesca is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.19 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Alemão 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.
Huesca asked and Burgos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tomás Domínguez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Something was said to Arnau Comas and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
SquadWords at Huesca training over how hard people work
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.
Kiko Olivas 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 Emir Faccioli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Alemão was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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 phone has started ringing about Rafael Tresaco again, and this time the name on the line is Mirandés. Huesca are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Huesca has been clear about where Guillem Molina 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 Huesca 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 Javier Balbuena, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ro Abajas 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 Huesca is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Huesca, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Huesca will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Alemão 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ro Abajas 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.” Mateo Márquez after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Santiago Gallardo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ismael Álvarez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Huesca had all but put away. Gijón will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yann Kembo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emir Faccioli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Salva Ruiz has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alemão provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ro Abajas 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huesca will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Alemão 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.
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Mateo Márquez to a room that had heard them before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Martín Pucheta has his answer from Huesca; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huesca will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
7.88, 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Charlie Patiño 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emir Faccioli 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emir Faccioli, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ro Abajas 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Huesca has been clear about where Marcos Rilo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Márquez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Huesca dressing room was either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Alemão will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Huesca escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Alemão 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Huesca told Salva Ruiz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alemão provided it, and the 9.78 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
93 minutes played. Alemão found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Deportivo La Coruña went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emir Faccioli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsThe cruellest goal, and it is Salva Ruiz's
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alemão provided it, and the 9.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 goals in one match, Alemão on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Huesca and Granada.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jorge Garrido is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
19 new faces, and Huesca are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Real Sociedad B will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Huesca were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alemão provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The goal that put Real Sociedad B ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Huesca equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huesca will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca 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 Emir Faccioli 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 Huesca has been clear about where Manuel Díaz stands, which is more than many ever get.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Márquez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Huesca dressing room was either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Racing Santander go through and Huesca 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Óscar Sielva 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emir Faccioli 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Márquez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Huesca dressing room was either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jesús Gallardo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Sep 2026
18 new faces, and Huesca are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
7.65, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Huesca had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.” Mateo Márquez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The match ball belongs to Alemão, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 23 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Huesca 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Alemão on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Huesca and Burgos.
Marked 9.13 — 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huesca will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” SonderjyskE had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Alemão was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Alemão was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.77. 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.
Huesca asked and Córdoba 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Huesca and Almería in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Club Brugge have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Huesca have gone to Zaragoza with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Huesca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emir Faccioli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Huesca will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Almería next, and one man in the Huesca dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Huesca asked and Pumas UNAM 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 Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Francisco Soto has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Álvaro Cortés has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mario Pascual has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Enzo Navarro is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Huesca are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A loan enquiry to Rayo Vallecano: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huesca this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Huesca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
6 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Huesca that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
The dugoutDiego Aznar knocks on the manager's door