From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2032
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.
Match23 Oct 2032
Yael Padilla had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Club America were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings25 Oct 2032
A brace, and Yael Padilla takes the afternoon — 8.43
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yael Padilla provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad25 Oct 2032
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings25 Oct 2032
7.81, 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.
Squad25 Oct 2032
15 goals and a season average of 7.37. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Match23 Oct 2032
Club America left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout25 Oct 2032
The manager makes an example of Jhohan Romaña
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad18 Oct 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings18 Oct 2032
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match16 Oct 2032
Leon make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leon have 5 straight wins of it.
Player ratings18 Oct 2032
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.40, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad18 Oct 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2032
Defences have started doubling up on Yael Padilla
13 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad18 Oct 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Oct 2032
Three points for Leon, 3‑1 the final word against Toluca in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout18 Oct 2032
The manager makes an example of Diber Cambindo
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2032
58 days out for Fernando Beltrán after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings11 Oct 2032
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Oct 2032
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.20, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match9 Oct 2032
Leon make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leon have 4 straight wins of it.
Market11 Oct 2032
Diego Abella has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Oct 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Squad11 Oct 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Oct 2032
Chiapas made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
“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.
Market4 Oct 2032
Joe Scally wants more than Leon are offering
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jhojan Julio and Leon agree another 2 years.
Match2 Oct 2032
Nobody wants to play Leon right now
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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match2 Oct 2032
Leon get the job done against Morelia
A 1‑0 win over Morelia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
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From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Sep 2032
A fracture rules Fernando Beltrán out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Sep 2032
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leon can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Jordi Cortizo 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.
Match25 Sep 2032
Pachuca made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad27 Sep 2032
10 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings27 Sep 2032
Ninety minutes of Édgar Guerra at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
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The dugout27 Sep 2032
A promise honoured at Leon
Something was said to Yael Padilla and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings20 Sep 2032
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.89, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market20 Sep 2032
Joe Scally has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leon can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad20 Sep 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match18 Sep 2032
Leon get the job done against Puebla
A 1‑0 win over Puebla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout20 Sep 2032
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Player ratings20 Sep 2032
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings20 Sep 2032
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2032
87 days out for Fernando Beltrán after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market13 Sep 2032
Diego Abella has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Sep 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout13 Sep 2032
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Player ratings13 Sep 2032
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout13 Sep 2032
Nobody at Leon 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.
The dugout13 Sep 2032
Joe Scally knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match11 Sep 2032
Leon and Tijuana take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2032
A fracture rules Fernando Beltrán out for 94 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Window shuts: 17 in, 22 out at Leon
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 22 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match4 Sep 2032
A bad afternoon for Leon against Cruz Azul
1‑3 to Cruz Azul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2032
Leon asked and DAC Dunajska Streda 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 dugout6 Sep 2032
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Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Wages swallow 96% of the Leon income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
When it matters, Jhohan Romaña plays
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Bryan Colula
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Aug 2032
A fracture rules Fernando Beltrán out for 101 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Aug 2032
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad30 Aug 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Match28 Aug 2032
The run is over for Leon
8 matches without defeat, and then Monterrey. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad30 Aug 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2032
Leon asked and Hajduk Split said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match28 Aug 2032
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Aug 2032
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The dugout30 Aug 2032
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad23 Aug 2032
A fracture rules Fernando Beltrán out for 108 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings23 Aug 2032
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.31, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match21 Aug 2032
8 unbeaten for Leon
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Leon did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2032
The paperwork begins on Peter Scott
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Leon have done the hard part with Chelsea, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2032
No thanks: Danilo Monza rejects the move
Leon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Modena, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad23 Aug 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Leon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match21 Aug 2032
Pumas UNAM made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Aug 2032
A fracture rules Fernando Beltrán out for 115 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Aug 2032
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market16 Aug 2032
Only the photograph left for Diego Abella
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Abella will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Aug 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Aug 2032
7 unbeaten for Leon
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Leon did not have in the autumn.
Squad16 Aug 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Aug 2032
“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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2032
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.
Match14 Aug 2032
The run is over for Leon
6 matches without defeat, and then Tigres. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad9 Aug 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Aug 2032
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings9 Aug 2032
A brace, and Yael Padilla takes the afternoon — 9.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yael Padilla provided it, and the 9.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match7 Aug 2032
Leon cannot stop winning
6 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.
Market9 Aug 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings9 Aug 2032
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.63, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market9 Aug 2032
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Javier Olivas had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market9 Aug 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2032
No thanks: Jeroen Lang rejects the move
Leon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cambuur, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
In brief
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Squad
Jhohan Romaña falls out with a teammate over standards
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Squad
Tempers go at Leon
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Match
Another one collected away from home
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad2 Aug 2032
129 days out for Fernando Beltrán after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings2 Aug 2032
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market2 Aug 2032
“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.
Match31 Jul 2032
Nobody wants to play Leon right now
5 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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2032
Nicolás Fonseca, 33, rolls back the years — 7.95
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.95 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout2 Aug 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market2 Aug 2032
Puebla come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Leon did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market2 Aug 2032
“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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2032
The deal with Cambuur 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Jul 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.76, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Jul 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pumas UNAM waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jul 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leon can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Jul 2032
Nobody wants to play Leon right now
4 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.
The dugout26 Jul 2032
Javier Medina: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2032
The deal with Chicago Fire 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2032
No thanks: Danilo Monza rejects the move
Leon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Modena, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Yael Padilla 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jul 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Puebla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad19 Jul 2032
45 days out for Brandon Brocksom after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market19 Jul 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market19 Jul 2032
Diego Abella has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
Everything agreed with Modena, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Paris Saint-Germain keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Jul 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Diego Moreno is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Leon have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad12 Jul 2032
52 days out for Brandon Brocksom after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market12 Jul 2032
Only the photograph left for Alan Guzmán
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Guzmán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market12 Jul 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market12 Jul 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad12 Jul 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Jul 2032
At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout12 Jul 2032
The manager makes an example of Miguel Vázquez
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2032
Diber Cambindo damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Market5 Jul 2032
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Cruz Azul for Jhojan Julio 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.
Squad5 Jul 2032
59 days out for Brandon Brocksom after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Jul 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Leon have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market5 Jul 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Jul 2032
Joe Scally wants to know where this is going
“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 Leon hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad5 Jul 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jhohan Romaña and Leon agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2032
Leon asked and Tijuana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Jun 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Queretaro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market28 Jun 2032
Josué Reyes hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leon can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2032
Joe Scally has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leon can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad28 Jun 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paris Saint-Germain have kept their man, and Leon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
A loan move for Thiago Parga is in the works
Leon have made the call to Atlético Tucumán. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2032
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market21 Jun 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad21 Jun 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 Jun 2032
Only the photograph left for Daniel García
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel García will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jun 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market21 Jun 2032
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Leon will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout21 Jun 2032
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 Juan Pablo Domínguez is on it.
Market21 Jun 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jun 2032
Alan Guzmán has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Market14 Jun 2032
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
A loan enquiry to Paris Saint-Germain: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jun 2032
Salvador Mariscal has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
The dugout14 Jun 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josué Reyes, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2032
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jun 2032
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
Joe Scally gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
A loan move for Stephan Simon is in the works
Leon have made the call to Bayern Munich. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
Édgar Guerra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market7 Jun 2032
Josué Reyes told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Josué Reyes has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad31 May 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom31 May 2032
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.
Squad31 May 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom31 May 2032
Monterrey will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jesús Montesano has pre-agreed a move to Leon, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The dugout31 May 2032
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 dugout31 May 2032
Joe Scally knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joe Scally trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2032
The manager makes an example of Alan Guzmán
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 May 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 May 2032
Only the photograph left for Youssef Ortiz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Youssef Ortiz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout24 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salvador Mariscal, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2032
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market24 May 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 May 2032
Paulo Ramírez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2032
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad17 May 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 May 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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 dugout17 May 2032
Julio González has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market17 May 2032
Javier Medina is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Leon has been clear about where Javier Medina stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market17 May 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 May 2032
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2032
Diber Cambindo damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Squad10 May 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 May 2032
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 May 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout10 May 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 May 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad10 May 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2032
Édgar Guerra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market10 May 2032
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Leon has been clear about where Antonio Portales stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 May 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 May 2032
“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.
Squad3 May 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Pablo Domínguez commits to Leon for another 2 years.
Squad3 May 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Rodarte, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2032
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 dugout3 May 2032
A promise honoured at Leon
Something was said to Jorge Rodarte and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market3 May 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fernando Beltrán signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2032
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Apr 2032
Leon may not be able to give Joe Scally what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Joe Scally wants continental football; whether Leon can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Market26 Apr 2032
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Apr 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
“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 dugout26 Apr 2032
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 Juan Pablo Domínguez is on it.
Market26 Apr 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
-
The dugout
Josué Reyes knocks on the manager’s door
-
Market
The clock does Daniel García’s negotiating for him
-
Boardroom
Leon keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2032
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Apr 2032
Only the photograph left for Alan Guzmán
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Guzmán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout19 Apr 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Fonseca, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2032
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Apr 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
“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.
Market12 Apr 2032
Daniel García has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diber Cambindo
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Apr 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Squad5 Apr 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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 dugout5 Apr 2032
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 dugout5 Apr 2032
The manager makes an example of Cristian Inda
“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.
Market5 Apr 2032
Diego Moreno returns from a loan that gave him nothing
2 appearances and 1 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
Market5 Apr 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fernando Beltrán signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 Mar 2032
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Mar 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout29 Mar 2032
“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 dugout29 Mar 2032
Nobody at Leon 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
A promise honoured at Leon
Something was said to Édgar Guerra and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market29 Mar 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
Paulo Ramírez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Paulo Ramírez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
-
Market
Daniel García runs his contract down
-
Boardroom
Leon keep producing them
-
Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at Leon
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Mar 2032
Only the photograph left for Alan Guzmán
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Guzmán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch22 Mar 2032
“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 Leon, and 2 appearances in 35 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel García, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
Julio González has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market22 Mar 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
Jordi Cortizo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jordi Cortizo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match15 Mar 2032
The season ends: position 8 for Leon
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 48 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings15 Mar 2032
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market15 Mar 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match13 Mar 2032
Nobody wants to play Leon right now
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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match13 Mar 2032
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jhojan Julio’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leon.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Mar 2032
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.53 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jhojan Julio and Leon agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad8 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match6 Mar 2032
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rubén Hernández. 3‑1 against Dorados, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
Jhojan Julio gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 Mar 2032
Ninety minutes of Rubén Hernández at his very best
Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2032
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.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 2032
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match28 Feb 2032
A 2‑1 win over Guadalajara, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Mar 2032
Ninety minutes of Salvador Mariscal at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
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 dugout1 Mar 2032
“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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Joe Scally knocks on the manager's door
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Market
Diber Cambindo linked with a move away
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Feb 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Feb 2032
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.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
“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.
Market23 Feb 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market23 Feb 2032
Joe Scally has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leon can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad23 Feb 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Feb 2032
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Feb 2032
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Feb 2032
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad16 Feb 2032
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.
Player ratings16 Feb 2032
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market16 Feb 2032
Daniel García has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Feb 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match14 Feb 2032
Leon come up short against Toluca
Toluca left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
“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 dugout16 Feb 2032
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Feb 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Feb 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market9 Feb 2032
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Puebla for Alan Guzmán 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.
Player ratings9 Feb 2032
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Julio González pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout9 Feb 2032
“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 dugout9 Feb 2032
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nicolás Fonseca will call it something else in private.
In brief
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Player ratings
The afternoon belonged to Édgar Guerra
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The dugout
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Feb 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 157 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 Jan 2032
No mercy from Leon
Morelia will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Leon were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings2 Feb 2032
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.13, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market2 Feb 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom2 Feb 2032
Window shuts: 1 in, 1 out at Leon
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market2 Feb 2032
“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.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Feb 2032
Marked 8.50 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jan 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santos Laguna waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jan 2032
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market26 Jan 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
“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.
Market26 Jan 2032
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Jan 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
Leon asked and Club America said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings26 Jan 2032
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
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Match
Pachuca take the points off Leon
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Loan watch
Diego Moreno wants to come home
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Jan 2032
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑3 against Puebla, and it could have been more.
Market19 Jan 2032
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Cruz Azul for Fernando Beltrán 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.
Player ratings19 Jan 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings19 Jan 2032
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.48, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market19 Jan 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market19 Jan 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom19 Jan 2032
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.
Squad19 Jan 2032
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Jan 2032
Édgar Guerra among the goals in a wild afternoon
10 goals in one match, Édgar Guerra on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Leon and Puebla.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
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Match
Leon are shipping goals every week
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Salvador Mariscal at his very best
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Jan 2032
Leon out of the cup
Tigres ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market12 Jan 2032
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Guadalajara for Salvador Mariscal 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.
The terraces12 Jan 2032
Leon are taken apart by Tigres — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market12 Jan 2032
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Match10 Jan 2032
6 goals as Leon and Tijuana go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Leon and Tijuana, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match10 Jan 2032
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Salvador Mariscal. 4‑2 against Tijuana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Jhohan Romaña 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jan 2032
Leon taken apart
0‑4 to Cruz Azul, 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.
Market5 Jan 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Jan 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Julio González commits to Leon for another 2 years.
The dugout5 Jan 2032
“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.
Boardroom5 Jan 2032
Inquest at Leon
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout5 Jan 2032
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Dec 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Market29 Dec 2031
Joe Scally wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Player ratings29 Dec 2031
Marked 7.70 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Leon had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
A promise honoured at Leon
Something was said to Nicolás Fonseca and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Looking ahead29 Dec 2031
The leaders are next for Leon
Cruz Azul top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
Salvador Mariscal has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 Dec 2031
Diber Cambindo, 35, rolls back the years — 8.43
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.43 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market22 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for Youssef Ortiz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Youssef Ortiz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Dec 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Dec 2031
Leon keep winning on the road
4 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match20 Dec 2031
Pumas UNAM made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch22 Dec 2031
“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 Leon, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings22 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
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.” Gabriel Guardado kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Dec 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“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.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match13 Dec 2031
Tigres take the points off Leon
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Dec 2031
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Guardado after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“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 dugout15 Dec 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad8 Dec 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jhohan Romaña commits to Leon for another 2 years.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match6 Dec 2031
It finished 2‑0, and it was Diber Cambindo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leon.
Match6 Dec 2031
Leon are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout8 Dec 2031
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Dec 2031
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.
Market1 Dec 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Dec 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Dec 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Nov 2031
0‑2 to Santos Laguna, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
“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 dugout1 Dec 2031
“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.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
Salvador Mariscal has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Player ratings1 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Nov 2031
Leon strike at the death to beat Veracruz
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Veracruz had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Leon did not stop to explain themselves.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
“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.
Market24 Nov 2031
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match22 Nov 2031
Leon make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leon have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad24 Nov 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Nov 2031
Veracruz made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch24 Nov 2031
“I watch every Leon game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at FC Cincinnati runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Alan Guzmán
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Josué Reyes
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Age has not caught Jhojan Julio yet — 8.31
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 Nov 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jhojan Julio. 2‑1 against Queretaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Ninety minutes of Salvador Mariscal at his very best
Marked 8.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
Match17 Nov 2031
Halfway: Leon sit in position 10
19 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Echeverría, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
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 Jhohan Romaña is on it.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Gabriel Guardado could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Jhojan Julio, 33, rolls back the years — 8.41
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.41 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match8 Nov 2031
Dorados made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad10 Nov 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Diego Covarrubias and Leon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Nov 2031
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Gabriel Guardado could afford to be generous.
The dugout10 Nov 2031
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Nov 2031
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Julio González: 4 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Mauricio Jiménez damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
Match29 Oct 2031
Leon through in the cup
A 1‑1 win over Pachuca, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings3 Nov 2031
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market3 Nov 2031
Only the photograph left for Mauro Manotas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauro Manotas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market3 Nov 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Match1 Nov 2031
4 matches without a win for Leon
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leon are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Nov 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Oct 2031
Mauricio Jiménez damages knee ligaments — 64 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
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.
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
Up for the corner, and Salvador Mariscal delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Salvador Mariscal scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market27 Oct 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Oct 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Oct 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match25 Oct 2031
Club America left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
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 Gabriel Guardado left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Oct 2031
Mauricio Jiménez damages knee ligaments — 71 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
12 combined actions and 7.69. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Salvador Mariscal 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.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
7.74, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Leon had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
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 Jhohan Romaña is on it.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
The manager makes an example of Daniel García
“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.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Gabriel Guardado was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Leon dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Oct 2031
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings13 Oct 2031
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad13 Oct 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Oct 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Pablo Domínguez. 2‑0 against Chiapas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings13 Oct 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.52. 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 ratings13 Oct 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market13 Oct 2031
Josué Reyes told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Josué Reyes has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leon.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Oct 2031
Mauricio Jiménez damages knee ligaments — 85 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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 dugout6 Oct 2031
“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.
Market6 Oct 2031
Mauro Manotas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Oct 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diber Cambindo and Leon agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Oct 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Oct 2031
It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match4 Oct 2031
It finished 1‑0, and it was Salvador Mariscal’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leon.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Sep 2031
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match27 Sep 2031
7 matches without a win for Leon
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Leon are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings29 Sep 2031
Age has not caught Jhojan Julio yet — 8.03
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market29 Sep 2031
Youssef Ortiz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Sep 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Sep 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvador Mariscal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings29 Sep 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josué Reyes, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
A promise honoured at Leon
Something was said to Miguel Vázquez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Sep 2031
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match20 Sep 2031
No end in sight to Leon's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Player ratings22 Sep 2031
Édgar Guerra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. 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.
Match20 Sep 2031
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Leon had all but put away. Puebla will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad22 Sep 2031
5 new faces, and Leon are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
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 Jhohan Romaña is on it.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
The manager makes an example of Felipe Coronel
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Sep 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
Alejandro Arana: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match13 Sep 2031
5 matches without a win for Leon
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Leon are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
Édgar Guerra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match13 Sep 2031
Leon come up short against Tijuana
Tijuana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Sep 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Irwin Zamudio and Leon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Sep 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Sep 2031
Mauro Manotas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match6 Sep 2031
The wait goes on for Leon
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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Orlando Botello gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Orlando Botello has just signed for Leon, and for once the answer mattered.
Match6 Sep 2031
A bad afternoon for Leon against Cruz Azul
1‑3 to Cruz Azul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvador Mariscal 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 dugout8 Sep 2031
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Guardado after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Sep 2031
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Sep 2031
34 days out for Gaddi Aguirre after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Leon close the window on a squad of their own making
33 in and 18 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.
Market1 Sep 2031
Only the photograph left for Youssef Ortiz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Youssef Ortiz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Sep 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match30 Aug 2031
Monterrey left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
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 Gabriel Guardado to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
The manager makes an example of Cristian Inda
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Aug 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
41 days out for Gaddi Aguirre after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Aug 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Veracruz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
Felipe Coronel: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Jhojan Julio, 33, rolls back the years — 8.06
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Leon deserved better, and so did he.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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.
Match23 Aug 2031
A bad afternoon for Leon against Pumas UNAM
1‑3 to Pumas UNAM, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Aug 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Aug 2031
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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Gaddi Aguirre breaks a bone — 48 days out
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.
Market18 Aug 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Leon people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market18 Aug 2031
Gaddi Aguirre has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Match16 Aug 2031
Jhojan Julio scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Tigres, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings18 Aug 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Aug 2031
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Gaddi Aguirre breaks a bone — 55 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings11 Aug 2031
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.99, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market11 Aug 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market11 Aug 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings11 Aug 2031
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Aug 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Leonel Calderón is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market11 Aug 2031
The name of Youssef Ortiz has come up in conversations Leon were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Aug 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad4 Aug 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Aug 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Aug 2031
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Aug 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leon heard it as anything else.
Squad4 Aug 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match2 Aug 2031
Santos Laguna left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom4 Aug 2031
Monterrey will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Íñigo Ariztia has pre-agreed a move to Leon, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Market4 Aug 2031
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jordi Cortizo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jul 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad28 Jul 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 29. 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 Jul 2031
“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.
Market28 Jul 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom28 Jul 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mauro Manotas has agreed terms with Pachuca for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad28 Jul 2031
At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout28 Jul 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salvador Mariscal, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jul 2031
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Jul 2031
77 days out for Gaddi Aguirre after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 Jul 2031
Daniel García hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alejandro Rodríguez is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
Graduation day at Leon
10 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Leon asked and Bayern Munich said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market21 Jul 2031
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Javier Rodriguez 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.
Market21 Jul 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Christian Gutierrez 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.
In brief
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Market
One of our own: Erick Reyes joins the Leon first team
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Boardroom
Leon board go back on their word
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Mauro Nambo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jul 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Jul 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 84 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jul 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Cincinnati waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Jul 2031
Juan Liceaga hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leon can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jul 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jul 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Leonel Calderón is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Bayern Munich 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.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
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 Salvador Mariscal is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jul 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Gaddi Aguirre breaks a bone — 91 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jul 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Modena is saying, and nobody at Leon is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Jul 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jul 2031
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.
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
Intake day at the Leon academy
8 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout7 Jul 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel García, and the manager let it.
Market7 Jul 2031
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mauro Manotas has his answer from Leon; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Jun 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 108 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Jun 2031
Luis Villegas hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Domínguez 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 dugout30 Jun 2031
Jhohan Romaña has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
Daniel García is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Leon has been clear about where Daniel García stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
Leon bank $833.3K from an old deal
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Ismael Díaz is somebody else's player now, and $833.3K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad23 Jun 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Jun 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Club America wanted more than $200.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad23 Jun 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market23 Jun 2031
Guadalajara pay $210.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The dugout23 Jun 2031
“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.
Market23 Jun 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Juan Pablo Domínguez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Jun 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 112 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Jun 2031
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Cruz Azul for Jhojan Julio 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.
Market16 Jun 2031
“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.
Market16 Jun 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Jun 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market16 Jun 2031
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Leon have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arsenal have kept their man, and Leon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luis Villegas and Leon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Jun 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
119 days out for Gaddi Aguirre after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Leon asked and Club America said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Leon have gone to Veracruz 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.
Boardroom9 Jun 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Gaddi Aguirre 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Pablo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Édgar Guerra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
Market9 Jun 2031
The Jhojan Julio story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jhojan Julio signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
Leon book their European place
Done, and with games to spare. Next season has floodlit nights against clubs from other countries in it, and the accounts have a line they did not have last year.
Squad2 Jun 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 127 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Jun 2031
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Felipe Coronel 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.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Arsenal: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Moreira, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 May 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 143 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 143 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.
Squad26 May 2031
Gaddi Aguirre breaks a bone — 134 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 134 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 May 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad26 May 2031
Jhohan Romaña 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 dugout26 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Abella, and the manager let it.
Market26 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jhohan Romaña signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 May 2031
Agustín Moreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leon 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.
The dugout26 May 2031
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Leon. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout26 May 2031
Miguel Vázquez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miguel Vázquez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 May 2031
150 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 May 2031
A fracture rules Gaddi Aguirre out for 141 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 May 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 May 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 May 2031
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.
Market19 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Pablo Domínguez signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 May 2031
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.
The dugout19 May 2031
Diego Abella knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Abella trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 May 2031
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Leon could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 May 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julio González
157 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 May 2031
A fracture rules Luis Villegas out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 May 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 May 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch12 May 2031
“I did not go to FC Cincinnati to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leon and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad12 May 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Villegas Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 May 2031
Édgar Guerra gets picked when it counts
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 Édgar Guerra is on it.
The dugout12 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Inda, and the manager let it.
Market12 May 2031
The name of Fernando Beltrán keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leon say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 May 2031
164 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 May 2031
67 days out for Luis Villegas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout5 May 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 May 2031
“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.
Squad5 May 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jhohan Romaña and Leon agree another 2 years.
Squad5 May 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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 dugout5 May 2031
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 dugout5 May 2031
“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.
Market5 May 2031
The name of Diber Cambindo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leon say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Apr 2031
Julio González damages knee ligaments — 171 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 171 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
A fracture rules Luis Villegas out for 74 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Jhohan Romaña 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 dugout28 Apr 2031
“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 dugout28 Apr 2031
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Leon told Aarón Arredondo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Market28 Apr 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jhohan Romaña signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
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 Agustín Moreira is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Apr 2031
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Apr 2031
81 days out for Luis Villegas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Villegas Maciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
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 dugout21 Apr 2031
“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.
Market21 Apr 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Pablo Domínguez signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Apr 2031
Nicolás Fonseca damages knee ligaments — 82 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Luis Villegas breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Apr 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Moreira will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Loan watch14 Apr 2031
“I did not go to FC Cincinnati to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leon and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“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 dugout14 Apr 2031
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.
Market14 Apr 2031
The name of Fernando Beltrán keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leon say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Apr 2031
Nicolás Fonseca damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
35 days out for Christian Montes after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Julio González and Leon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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 dugout7 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Moreira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Mar 2031
Nicolás Fonseca damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
42 days out for Christian Montes after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolás Fonseca
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
Aarón Arredondo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 Mar 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Sebastián Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvador Mariscal 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 dugout24 Mar 2031
The manager makes an example of Alejandro Arana
“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 dugout24 Mar 2031
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.
Market24 Mar 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Pablo Domínguez signs something — a contract at Leon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad24 Mar 2031
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Leon lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
Daniel García knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolás Fonseca
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Daniel García: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Mar 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Moreira will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Mar 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Salvador Mariscal 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 dugout17 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Too much change too quickly at Leon
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
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 dugout17 Mar 2031
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Leon told Agustín Alvez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Mar 2031
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match10 Mar 2031
Leon finish in position 7
61 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match8 Mar 2031
A bad afternoon for Leon against Queretaro
0‑1 to Queretaro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Mar 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alejandro Arana and Leon agree another 1 years.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Market10 Mar 2031
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Agustín Moreira has his answer from Leon; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
No place for Paulo Ramírez on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Leon pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Mar 2031
Nicolás Fonseca damages knee ligaments — 124 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 124 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.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.23, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market3 Mar 2031
The bid was some way short and Leon did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout3 Mar 2031
“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.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
Daniel García goes up and wins it — 7.48
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.48 for the rest of it.
Squad3 Mar 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diber Cambindo and Leon agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Match1 Mar 2031
Leon are shipping goals every week
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.
Match1 Mar 2031
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Leon and Dorados in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Feb 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolás Fonseca
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 Feb 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market24 Feb 2031
The phone has started ringing about Diego Moreno again, and this time the name on the line is Minnesota United FC. Leon are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match22 Feb 2031
Leon are shipping goals every week
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.
Match22 Feb 2031
1‑2 to Guadalajara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Jhojan Julio
12 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Salvador Mariscal 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 dugout24 Feb 2031
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 Gabriel Guardado left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
Somebody else is better right now than Julio González
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Feb 2031
Nowhere to hide for Leon
0‑4 against Club America, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market17 Feb 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Josué Reyes gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Josué Reyes has just signed for Leon, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad17 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Feb 2031
Toluca will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Federico Sena has pre-agreed a move to Leon, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
The manager makes an example of Paulo Ramírez
“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.
Boardroom17 Feb 2031
Inquest at Leon
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Gabriel Guardado to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Feb 2031
Leon win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Toluca will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.41, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market10 Feb 2031
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Toluca had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match8 Feb 2031
Toluca made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad10 Feb 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Pablo Chávez and Leon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
In brief
-
Squad
9 new faces, and Leon are still learning each other
-
The dugout
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Feb 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Leon people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Leon 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.
Market3 Feb 2031
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Morelia for José Hernandez 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.
Market3 Feb 2031
Fernando Beltrán wants to know where this is going
“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 Leon hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad3 Feb 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Antonio Portales and Leon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Feb 2031
“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.
Match1 Feb 2031
Leon come up short against Chiapas
Chiapas left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvador Mariscal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
-
Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Nicolás Fonseca at his very best
-
Match
After 4 games, Leon finally taste it again
-
Boardroom
Nobody left the Leon dressing room in a hurry
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Jan 2031
No mercy from Leon
Morelia will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Leon were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market27 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santos Laguna waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market27 Jan 2031
Leon say no — this time
The offer from Santos Laguna for Agustín Moreira 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.
Match25 Jan 2031
Leon cannot stop winning
4 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.
Player ratings27 Jan 2031
Up for the corner, and Salvador Mariscal delivers — 7.97
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Salvador Mariscal scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market27 Jan 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad27 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Jhohan Romaña 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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Jhojan Julio
12 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings20 Jan 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.95 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market20 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santos Laguna waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market20 Jan 2031
Monterrey pay $2.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
Everything agreed with Atlas, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match18 Jan 2031
Leon make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leon have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad20 Jan 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
Leon asked and Monterrey said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match18 Jan 2031
Pachuca made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Jan 2031
3‑0, and Nicolás Fonseca took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Leon tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market13 Jan 2031
Cruz Azul come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Leon did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market13 Jan 2031
Club America pay $7.5M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The terraces13 Jan 2031
Supporters turn on the $7.5M sale of José Alvarado
He is going to Club America, the club has $7.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market13 Jan 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market13 Jan 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
The paperwork begins on Luis Vega
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Leon have done the hard part with Toluca, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom13 Jan 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Agustín Moreira has agreed terms with Puebla for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Tempers go at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market6 Jan 2031
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Leon have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market6 Jan 2031
“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 Leon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words exchanged at Leon
Fernando Beltrán 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Jan 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Paulo Ramírez commits to Leon for another 4 years.
Match4 Jan 2031
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nicolás Fonseca’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leon.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Antonio Portales will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Dec 2030
11 saves: Eros García was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market30 Dec 2030
Only the photograph left for José Alvarado
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Alvarado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Jhohan Romaña 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 dugout30 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julio González, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Dec 2030
José Alvarado is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
José Alvarado gets picked when it counts
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 José Alvarado is on it.
Match28 Dec 2030
A 1‑1 draw with Cruz Azul leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Gabriel Guardado was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Leon dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Dec 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
“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.
Market23 Dec 2030
Only the photograph left for José Hernandez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Hernandez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Dec 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Dec 2030
A bad afternoon for Leon against Monterrey
2‑3 to Monterrey, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Ninety minutes of José Alvarado at his very best
Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
Squad23 Dec 2030
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvador Mariscal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Ninety minutes of Jhojan Julio at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Dec 2030
Tempers go at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad16 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Leon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhohan Romaña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Dec 2030
Pumas UNAM made Leon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
The manager makes an example of Jordi Cortizo
“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 dugout16 Dec 2030
Jhohan Romaña gets picked when it counts
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 Jhohan Romaña is on it.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gabriel Guardado, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
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.
Market16 Dec 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Leon
Sebastián Santos 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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Jhohan Romaña 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.
Match7 Dec 2030
Tigres take the points off Leon
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mauro Manotas and Leon agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Defences have started doubling up on José Alvarado
8 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Guardado after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejandro Arana, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Dec 2030
José Alvarado has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad2 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Leon
Fernando Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match30 Nov 2030
7 unbeaten for Leon
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Leon did not have in the autumn.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Leon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvador Mariscal is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Dec 2030
Ninety minutes of Salvador Mariscal at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leon.
Match30 Nov 2030
Leon refuse to lose to Atlas
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match30 Nov 2030
After 4 games, Leon finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Atlas; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“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.