Morelia U18

Mexican Liga MX U18
24 Oct 2030
Thursday
Process
221 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Kléber Carranza out for 123 days

123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Ramiro Centurión has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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 dugout

Salvador Manríquez 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.

Match

Morelia come up short against Queretaro

Queretaro left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Jose Ochoa answers for it

“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.

Market

A long bet from Morelia on Diego Gutierrez

He is 20, and nobody at Morelia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

In brief

Back issues
220 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kléber Carranza

130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

The dugout

Roberto Moreno: 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.” Morelia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

José Juan Macías sends Morelia past Dorados

It finished 1‑0, and it was José Juan Macías’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Morelia.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramiro Rúmbolo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Rúmbolo, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched José Juan Macías

7.66, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Morelia had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

A satisfied Jose Ochoa

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Jose Ochoa could afford to be generous.

In brief

219 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Morelia

A 0‑3 beating by Guadalajara was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

José Juan Macías has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Nicolás Salinas stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Salinas and Morelia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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 dugout

Diego Gallegos 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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Morelia

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 dugout

Jose Ochoa faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jose Ochoa after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

218 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

30 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Manuel Tasso stands alone

8 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.

Market

Ramiro Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Ramiro Centurión keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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.

Match

Alonso Hernández’s goal not enough for Morelia

Alonso Hernández scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Leon, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Sebastián Cervantes signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastián Cervantes and Morelia agree another 4 years.

The dugout

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 Jose Ochoa left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

217 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Ramiro Centurión has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia see off Toluca

Three points for Morelia, 1‑0 the final word against Toluca in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Alonso Hernández at his very best

Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Morelia.

The dugout

No hiding place for Misael Sandoval

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Misael Sandoval, and the manager let it.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Arath Egaña

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Morelia told Arath Egaña something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Salvador Manríquez

16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

In brief

216 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Player ratings

A brace, and Arturo Palma takes the afternoon — 8.23

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Arturo Palma provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Diego Farías is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia find a way past Chiapas

Chiapas made Morelia work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Market

Misael Sandoval told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Misael Sandoval has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Morelia.

Squad

Morelia are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Abraham Flores

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.

In brief

215 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Only the photograph left for José Juan Macías

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Juan Macías will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A day José Juan Macías will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

The dugout

Misael Sandoval keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Morelia come up short against Club America

Club America left with the points after a 3‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Market

Leonardo Ramirez comes home

The shirt still fits. Leonardo Ramirez is back at Morelia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Match

José Juan Macías among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, José Juan Macías on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Morelia and Club America.

Squad

Carlos Meléndez gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Carlos Meléndez has just signed for Morelia, and for once the answer mattered.

Player ratings

A masterclass from José Juan Macías

Marked 9.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

214 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cruel end for Pachuca as Morelia pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Morelia scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Market

Ramiro Centurión asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 12 signed and 9 gone

That is the business done at Morelia 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Morelia get the job done against Pachuca

A 3‑2 win over Pachuca, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Arturo Palma

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Israel Luna

“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.

In brief

213 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

26 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Morelia run riot against Puebla

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.

Match

Morelia bow out of the cup

Dorados go through and Morelia go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Player ratings

A brace, and José Juan Macías takes the afternoon — 9.12

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. José Juan Macías provided it, and the 9.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

At last: Morelia win one

12 matches without a win, and then this, against Puebla. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Market

Roberto Moreno 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ramiro Centurión

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ramiro Centurión will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Uziel García falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

212 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

11 matches without a win for Morelia

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.

Market

Terms done: Diego Abella is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Veracruz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Morelia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Diego Farías has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Guillermo Marquez out for 26 days

The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Guillermo Marquez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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.

Match

Late, late show earns Morelia a point

Minute 95, against Tijuana, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Player ratings

Alonso Hernández takes the honours

Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Morelia had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

211 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

12 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

11 saves: Manuel Tasso 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.

Match

10 matches without a win for Morelia

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.

Market

José Juan Macías has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

Morelia are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Market

Antonio Torres 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Diego Farías keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Cruz Azul

1‑3 to Cruz Azul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

210 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

9 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.

Market

Terms done: Ronaldo Rubio is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dorados waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Morelia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Diego Farías 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Morelia

6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Squad

Arath Egaña stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arath Egaña and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Morelia walk away from Luis Vega

$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Toluca were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia come up short against Monterrey

Monterrey left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Arath Egaña
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Nicolás Salinas dropped after a run of poor form
209 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

29 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

José Juan Macías agrees terms with Pumas UNAM

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Morelia people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Ramiro Centurión has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

An offer of $170.0K for Luis Vega

Morelia have gone to Toluca 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.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Morelia leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Petris 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Pumas UNAM

1‑2 to Pumas UNAM, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

208 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Diego Abella agrees terms with Queretaro

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Morelia people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Jorge Zapata 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Diego Farías has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Diego Farías has agreed to leave Morelia for nothing

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Pumas UNAM expected to open talks for José Juan Macías

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Morelia will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Morelia

5 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.

In brief

207 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

José Juan Macías attracts admirers

The name of José Juan Macías has come up in conversations Morelia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Morelia count the cost of losing Israel Luna

15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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 dugout

Rubén Del Campo 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 Rubén Del Campo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

206 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

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 Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Manuel Miranda 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Dorados come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Morelia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Daniel Rodriguez is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Petris 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.

Boardroom

7 new boys at the Morelia academy

Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.

Squad

A season on the outside for Jérémy Petris

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Morelia has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

The dugout

A door opens for Manuel Tasso

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.

In brief

205 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ronaldo Rubio puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alejandro González is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Market

Dorados join the queue for Ronaldo Rubio

Add another name to the list: Dorados have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ronaldo Rubio. The answer from Morelia has not changed — yet.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramiro Rúmbolo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Rúmbolo, and the manager let it.

Squad

A step back for Israel Luna at Morelia

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas 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 Nicolás Salinas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The shop window has Diego Abella in it

Morelia have let the market know Diego Abella can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

204 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Marco Granados puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

No deal for Alejandro Viniegra at that price

Morelia offered $1.7M; Atlas said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Market

Ramiro Centurión has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Morelia bid $680.0K for Cristopher Benítez

The offer went to Veracruz this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Boardroom

Morelia beat the market to Luis Gómez from Santos Laguna

Santos Laguna will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Luis Gómez has pre-agreed a move to Morelia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Market

A long bet from Morelia on Tyler Bradley

He is 18, and nobody at Morelia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

In brief

203 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Diego Abella has said yes to Queretaro

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Morelia have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Morelia turn down Tigres for José Juan Macías

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Kléber Carranza arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kléber Carranza has, at Morelia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Morelia make their move for Alejandro Viniegra

$1.7M on the table at Atlas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Morelia baulk at the price for Fernando Tapia

Club America wanted more than $1.6M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Boardroom

Jonathan Vega will join Morelia for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Jonathan Vega has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Morelia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Squad

The formation has left Kléber Carranza behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Morelia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

202 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Terms done: Ramiro Centurión is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pachuca waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Morelia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Boardroom

Alex Román has agreed to leave Morelia for nothing

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Squad

Ramiro Rúmbolo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramiro Rúmbolo and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Diego Abella

“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.

Squad

Jose Araujo is a square peg at Morelia

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Market

Marco Granados told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Marco Granados has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Morelia.

Market

The José Juan Macías question follows Morelia around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with José Juan Macías’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

201 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Misael Sandoval 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Diego Abella is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jose Araujo arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jose Araujo has, at Morelia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Morelia beat the market to Nestor Araujo from Club America

Club America will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nestor Araujo has pre-agreed a move to Morelia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Market

Pachuca join the queue for Ramiro Centurión

Add another name to the list: Pachuca have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ramiro Centurión. The answer from Morelia has not changed — yet.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rubén Del Campo

“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.

Squad

Jose Araujo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jose Araujo and Morelia agree another 3 years.

In brief

200 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

27 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

199 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Roberto Moreno

“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.

Squad

Morelia lose Jose Salcedo

25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

The Uziel García talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

198 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ramiro Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roberto Moreno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Luka Ayala 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.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela linked with a move away

The name of Fernando Valenzuela keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Morelia say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

A door opens for Roberto Moreno

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.

Market

The shop window has Óscar Hidalgo in it

Morelia have let the market know Óscar Hidalgo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

Boardroom

The Morelia academy earns its keep

35 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.

In brief

197 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fernando Valenzuela 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Market

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 Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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 dugout

Manuel Tasso has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Manuel Tasso has written the date down.

In brief

196 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes Roberto Moreno a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Morelia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

The dugout

Antonio Torres 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

195 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Marco Granados: 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.” Morelia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Market

Diego Abella is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Morelia has been clear about where Diego Abella stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

Arath Egaña 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

194 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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 dugout

Rubén Del Campo 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 Rubén Del Campo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela linked with a move away

The name of Fernando Valenzuela keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Morelia say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

The manager makes Roberto Moreno a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Morelia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Squad

A wage question at Morelia

Antonio Torres has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.

Market

Ramiro Centurión placed on the list

Morelia have made Ramiro Centurión available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Boardroom

Morelia keep producing them

35 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.

Match

A season winding down at Morelia

Position 14, 25 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.

In brief

193 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fernando Valenzuela 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Rubén Del Campo says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Market

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 Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Misael Domínguez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Misael Domínguez and Morelia agree another 3 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Leonardo Vargas

“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.

Boardroom

Morelia sign a deal worth $297.8K a year

Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.

The dugout

Roberto Moreno has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Roberto Moreno has written the date down.

In brief

192 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Uziel García 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 dugout

No hiding place for Ramiro Rúmbolo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Rúmbolo, and the manager let it.

In brief

191 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Alex Román 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Petris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

The Uziel García talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

A door opens for Roberto Moreno

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.

In brief

190 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Diego Abella puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Uziel García 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 dugout

Morelia keep their word to Manuel Tasso

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Luka Ayala 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.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela linked with a move away

The name of Fernando Valenzuela keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Morelia say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Roberto Moreno has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Roberto Moreno has written the date down.

Squad

Questions about Misael Sandoval on the training pitch

The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.

In brief

189 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

11 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Morelia finish in position 14

25 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.

Market

Diego Abella is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market

Ramiro Centurión 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Uziel García 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Atlas

1‑2 to Atlas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Antonio Torres stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Antonio Torres and Morelia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Hugo Pineda out for 16 days

The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Hugo Pineda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

188 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Boardroom

The interim tag comes off Jose Ochoa

Morelia interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Jose Ochoa keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela asks to leave Morelia

“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 dugout

Antonio Torres says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Nicolás Salinas signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Salinas commits to Morelia for another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jérémy Petris falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

187 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Arath Egaña says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

4 matches without a win for Morelia

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Veracruz take the points off Morelia

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Manuel Tasso

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Manuel Tasso, and the manager let it.

The dugout

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 Jose Ochoa left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Nicolás Salinas

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.

In brief

186 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Diego Abella asks to leave Morelia

“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 ratings

Nobody could get near Arturo Palma

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Uziel García 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 dugout

Roberto Moreno 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.

Squad

100 appearances for Ramiro Rúmbolo

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Match

Queretaro snatch it back from Morelia

A goal on 86 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Squad

Roberto Moreno: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Morelia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

In brief

185 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Diego Abella has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Ramiro Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Arturo Palma

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Petris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Morelia dugout

10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Rubén Del Campo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rubén Del Campo, and the manager let it.

Match

Dorados take the points off Morelia

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Jose Jimenez out for 23 days

The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Jose Jimenez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

184 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Morelia run out of patience with Daniel Ramirez

The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Daniel Ramirez clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.

Squad

Fernando Valenzuela breaks a bone — 19 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Manuel Tasso stands alone

10 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.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Misael Domínguez says no to Chiapas

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Misael Domínguez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Boardroom

Crisis meeting at Morelia

The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.

Boardroom

Jose Ochoa steps up at Morelia for now

“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.

Boardroom

Morelia close the window on a squad of their own making

3 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

In brief

183 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Fernando Valenzuela out for 26 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Diego Farías damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Morelia

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Morelia is running low.

Match

At last: Morelia win one

10 matches without a win, and then this, against Leon. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

The dugout

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Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Misael Domínguez attracts admirers

The name of Misael Domínguez has come up in conversations Morelia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

182 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Fernando Valenzuela out for 34 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Diego Abella agrees terms with Dorados

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Morelia people have started saying his name in the past tense.

The dugout

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Market

Ronaldo Rubio 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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 targets

Door shut on Fernando González

Morelia asked and Guadalajara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

181 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

42 days out for Fernando Valenzuela after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Ramiro Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Ronaldo Rubio has said yes to Dorados

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Morelia have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Manuel Pagano stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Manuel Pagano and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Pachuca tell Morelia: Alexei Dominguez is not for sale

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.

Match

Late, late show earns Morelia a point

Minute 85, against Chiapas, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

In brief

180 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Fernando Valenzuela breaks a bone — 51 days out

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.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Morelia

0‑4 against Club America, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Diego Abella asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

José Juan Macías signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” José Juan Macías and Morelia agree another 3 years.

Match

Morelia 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.

In brief

179 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

60 days out for Fernando Valenzuela after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Diego Farías damages knee ligaments — 51 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Morelia

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Morelia is running low.

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

7 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.

The dugout

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Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Petris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Morelia leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

In brief

178 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Fernando Valenzuela breaks a bone — 71 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

The knee: Diego Farías out for 59 days

59 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

The dugout

Alejandro González: 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.” Morelia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia come up short against Puebla

Puebla left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Roberto Moreno

“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.

In brief

177 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Fernando Valenzuela out for 80 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

The dugout

Luka Ayala: 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.” Morelia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

The wait goes on for Morelia

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings

Diego Gallegos goes up and wins it — 7.87

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 7.87 for the rest of it.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Rubén Del Campo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rubén Del Campo, and the manager let it.

Match

Morelia caught on 91 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Tijuana scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

In brief

176 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

88 days out for Fernando Valenzuela after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Squad

The knee: Diego Farías out for 76 days

76 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

9 saves: Manuel Tasso was the team

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.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Morelia

0‑3 against Cruz Azul, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Ramiro Centurión asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Nicolás Salinas 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.

In brief

175 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Fernando Valenzuela out for 96 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Diego Farías 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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela asks to leave Morelia

“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 dugout

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Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Uziel García 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 dugout

Salvador Manríquez 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.

In brief

174 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Uziel García 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 ratings

Arturo Palma runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Morelia come up short against Pumas UNAM

Pumas UNAM left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Daniel Ramirez to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Diego Abella

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Morelia told Diego Abella something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

173 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Diego Farías damages knee ligaments — 100 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

A hiding for Morelia

Beaten 0‑3 by Tigres, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Petris 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 dugout

Alonso Hernández 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Morelia dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Daniel Ramirez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Ramirez after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos 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 Diego Gallegos is on it.

In brief

172 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Farías

110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Diego Gallegos sends Morelia past Atlas

It finished 2‑1, and it was Diego Gallegos’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Morelia.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Manuel Tasso

“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 ratings

A masterclass from Diego Gallegos

Marked 8.15 — 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.

Squad

Alejandro González signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alejandro González commits to Morelia for another 4 years.

Player ratings

José Juan Macías in the eights

A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

171 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Diego Farías out for 119 days

119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

Morelia put Daniel Ramirez on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

The Morelia board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

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.

The dugout

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Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Morelia

6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

In brief

170 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Diego Farías damages knee ligaments — 126 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 126 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 dugout

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Market

Óscar Hidalgo 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Morelia leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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.

Match

Alonso Hernández’s goal not enough for Morelia

Alonso Hernández scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Veracruz, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nicolás Salinas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Salinas, and the manager let it.

In brief

169 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Diego Farías damages knee ligaments — 133 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Morelia

A 0‑4 beating by Queretaro was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Ramiro Centurión 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jérémy Petris

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Morelia dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

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 Daniel Ramirez to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

168 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

15 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rubén Del Campo damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 18 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 terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

José Juan Macías takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

The dugout

Ramiro Centurión says Morelia went back on their word

“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 ratings

Arturo Palma beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Manuel Tasso stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Manuel Tasso and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Morelia and Dorados go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Morelia and Dorados, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Morelia see off Dorados

Three points for Morelia, 4‑2 the final word against Dorados in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

167 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 25 days

25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Alonso Hernández signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alonso Hernández commits to Morelia for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Jérémy Petris 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.

Match

Guadalajara take the points off Morelia

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Roberto Moreno

“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.

In brief

166 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Rubén Del Campo

33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Roberto Moreno puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Manuel Tasso

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Tasso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Leon

1‑3 to Leon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos 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.

Market

No place for Diego Abella in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Diego Abella has his answer from Morelia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout A promise honoured at Morelia
  • Squad Too much change too quickly at Morelia
165 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 40 days

40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Uziel García 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Toluca

0‑1 to Toluca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Daniel Ramirez: “No excuses”

“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.

The dugout

Israel Luna dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

Luis Félix 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.

The dugout

Jérémy Petris asks for a word with the manager

“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.

In brief

164 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rubén Del Campo damages knee ligaments — 49 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 49 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 terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Match

Morelia run riot against Chiapas

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 ratings

José Juan Macías scores twice — 8.65

Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Fernando Valenzuela scores twice — 8.36

Two goals and a mark of 8.36 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Arturo Palma

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Petris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

163 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 56 days

56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela asks to leave Morelia

“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 dugout

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Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Diego Abella’s goal not enough for Morelia

Diego Abella scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Club America, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uziel García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Misael Sandoval

“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 dugout

Daniel Ramirez: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

162 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 64 days

64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Manuel Tasso is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout

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Boardroom

Morelia close the window on a squad of their own making

16 in and 14 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Luis Ortiz is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A move Manuel Miranda would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Manuel Miranda is living that version at Morelia, and it tends to show in the first month.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marco Granados

“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 dugout

Alonso Hernández 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 Alonso Hernández is on it.

In brief

161 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Rubén Del Campo

73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Morelia out of the cup

Dorados ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

The dugout

Antonio Torres keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Petris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Morelia 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.

Player ratings

Ramiro Contreras was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

The game went through Luis Félix — 7.33

Marked 7.33 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Alonso Hernández

7.69, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Morelia had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

160 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 81 days

81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Morelia

0‑3 against Tijuana, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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.

Match

Morelia cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Nicolás Salinas

“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.

Squad

Diego Farías signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Diego Farías commits to Morelia for another 1 years.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Morelia dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Leonardo Vargas is still being punished for one mistake
  • Market Diego Abella placed on the list
159 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Rubén Del Campo damages knee ligaments — 88 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.

Match

A hiding for Morelia

Beaten 0‑3 by Cruz Azul, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

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 dugout

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Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uziel García 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 dugout

No hiding place for Salvador Manríquez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salvador Manríquez, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Morelia

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

158 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 97 days

97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Manuel Tasso stands alone

12 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.

Market

Manuel Tasso has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

Ramiro Rúmbolo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

The dugout

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Market

Luis Ortiz asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Nicolás Salinas stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Salinas and Morelia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Morelia come up short against Monterrey

Monterrey left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

157 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Rubén Del Campo

108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Daniel Rodriguez is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Match

José Juan Macías the difference as Morelia beat Pumas UNAM

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: José Juan Macías. 2‑0 against Pumas UNAM, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

Antonio Torres 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 ratings

A masterclass from José Juan Macías

Marked 8.36 — 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Alonso Hernández

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Uziel García was immovable

17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

In brief

156 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 117 days

117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Morelia

A 1‑4 beating by Tigres was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Uziel García pops up at the right end — 7.72

7.72, 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.

Squad

Roberto Moreno is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

155 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Rubén Del Campo out for 124 days

124 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Ivan Villa 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 Morelia can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Morelia rebuffed over Cesar Alvarez

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Veracruz have kept their man, and Morelia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Alex Román is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A late step up for Uziel García

At 28 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Marco Granados

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Granados, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Diego Gallegos plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

154 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Rubén Del Campo damages knee ligaments — 131 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 131 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Manuel Tasso

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Tasso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A move Roberto Moreno would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Roberto Moreno is living that version at Morelia, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Alex Román asks to leave Morelia

“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 dugout

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Squad

Alejandro González is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas is still paying for one afternoon at Morelia

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Market

The Uziel García talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

153 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

2 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Antonio Torres

15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

No deal for Ángel Azuaje at that price

Morelia offered $360.0K; Pumas UNAM said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Sebastián Cervantes is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Ramiro Rúmbolo has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The dugout

Salvador Manríquez is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

Boardroom

Intake day at the Morelia academy

7 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 dugout

Alonso Hernández has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Morelia 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.

In brief

152 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Antonio Torres out for 23 days

23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Israel Luna gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Israel Luna has just signed for Morelia, and for once the answer mattered.

Transfer targets

Morelia make their move for Ángel Azuaje

$360.0K on the table at Pumas UNAM. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

The step up is real for Luka Ayala

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Morelia rebuffed over José Raúl Zúñiga

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tigres have kept their man, and Morelia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

Luka Ayala 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.

In brief

151 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

18 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Antonio Torres

31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Leon join the queue for Fernando Valenzuela

Add another name to the list: Leon have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Fernando Valenzuela. The answer from Morelia has not changed — yet.

Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Cesar Alvarez

Morelia asked and Veracruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Transfer targets

Morelia baulk at the price for José Raúl Zúñiga

Tigres wanted more than $130.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Diego Farías signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Farías and Morelia agree another 1 years.

Squad

Diego Farías is a square peg at Morelia

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

In brief

150 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Antonio Torres

38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Ramiro Centurión has said yes to Leon

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Morelia have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Manuel Tasso is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout

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Market

Milán González asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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 targets

Door shut on Anthony Lozano

Morelia 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.

Squad

Alejandro González signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alejandro González and Morelia agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

In brief

149 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

4 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Antonio Torres out for 46 days

46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Market

Morelia say no — this time

The offer from Toluca for Fernando Valenzuela 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Luis Ortiz out for 17 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Alex Román: 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.” Morelia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Ramiro Centurión attracts admirers

The name of Ramiro Centurión has come up in conversations Morelia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ramiro Rúmbolo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramiro Rúmbolo and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marco Granados

“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.

In brief

148 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Antonio Torres

57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Morelia boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

25 days out for Luis Ortiz after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela 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 Morelia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Market

A loan that did nothing for Ramiro Rúmbolo

3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Morelia no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.

The dugout

Irving Zurita has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Morelia 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 dugout

The manager makes Antonio Torres a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Morelia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

147 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Antonio Torres damages knee ligaments — 65 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Luis Ortiz out for 34 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Morelia 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 dugout

Alejandro González is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

Market

The Fernando Valenzuela talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Ramiro Centurión asks for a word with the manager

“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.

The dugout

A door opens for Manuel Tasso

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.

In brief

146 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Antonio Torres damages knee ligaments — 73 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Luis Ortiz out for 42 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Manuel Tasso has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Diego Abella

“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.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

Market

Uziel García linked with a move away

The name of Uziel García keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Morelia say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Ramiro Centurión 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 Ramiro Centurión trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

145 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Antonio Torres out for 81 days

81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

Morelia spell it out for Daniel Ramirez

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Daniel Ramirez has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Squad

A fracture rules Luis Ortiz out for 49 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Salvador Manríquez is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

The manager's exit leaves José Juan Macías exposed

Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. José Juan Macías is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.

The dugout

Alonso Hernández has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Morelia 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 dugout

Manuel Tasso 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 Morelia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

144 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Antonio Torres out for 89 days

89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The terraces

Anger at Morelia spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A fracture rules Luis Ortiz out for 57 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Morelia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Morelia boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Marco Granados

“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.

In brief

143 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Antonio Torres damages knee ligaments — 97 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.

Squad

Luis Ortiz breaks a bone — 65 days out

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.

Market

Luka Ayala is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos 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 Diego Gallegos is on it.

The dugout

Luka Ayala 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Félix 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 dugout

Alejandro González is still paying for one afternoon at Morelia

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Market

The Fernando Valenzuela talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

142 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Antonio Torres out for 105 days

105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Morelia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

75 days out for Luis Ortiz after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Manuel Tasso

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Tasso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

The dugout

Luka Ayala keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Morelia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Félix was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Antonio Torres 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 Antonio Torres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas is still paying for one afternoon at Morelia

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

In brief

141 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Antonio Torres damages knee ligaments — 112 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.

Squad

82 days out for Luis Ortiz after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Morelia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Antonio Torres 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.

The dugout

Salvador Manríquez is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Alonso Hernández 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 Alonso Hernández is on it.

In brief

140 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Antonio Torres

119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Luis Ortiz 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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Market

Nicolás Salinas is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Morelia has been clear about where Nicolás Salinas stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marco Granados

“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.

Squad

The armband comes off Uziel García

Morelia will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

The dugout

Orlando Botello has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Morelia 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.

In brief

139 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Antonio Torres damages knee ligaments — 126 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 126 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.

Squad

Luis Ortiz breaks a bone — 96 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Luis Félix says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Fernando Valenzuela 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 Morelia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos 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 Diego Gallegos is on it.

The dugout

Alejandro González is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

Market

The Fernando Valenzuela talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Morelia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

138 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Manuel Tasso has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

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Market

Óscar Hidalgo puts it in writing

“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas 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.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Leonardo Vargas's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

The dugout

When it matters, Irving Zurita plays

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.

Market

Uziel García linked with a move away

The name of Uziel García keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Morelia say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Luis Félix is not doing himself any favours

A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.

In brief

137 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Morelia

0‑3 against Atlas, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Match

The season ends: position 15 for Morelia

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 28 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Morelia

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Morelia can tell you which week it ends in.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Morelia

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Salvador Manríquez is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Daniel Ramirez left the room before anybody could ask which.

Player ratings

Salvador Manríquez will replay that one

1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.

In brief

136 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Morelia boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

6 saves: Manuel Tasso was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Uziel García signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Uziel García and Morelia agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Morelia come up short against Santos Laguna

Santos Laguna left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The team sheet said everything about Uziel García

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Uziel García.

The dugout

Marco Granados 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 ratings

Arturo Palma was unplayable

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.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Antonio Torres dropped after a run of poor form
  • Squad Ronaldo Rubio is no longer first choice
135 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Morelia taken apart

0‑3 to Veracruz, 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.

Market

Luka Ayala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Morelia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Uziel García

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uziel García, and the manager let it.

Squad

José Juan Macías reaches 200 appearances

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.

Squad

Guillermo Marquez out for 23 days

The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Guillermo Marquez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Morelia

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Daniel Ramirez: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Morelia pick somebody else ahead of Antonio Torres

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.

In brief

134 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Only the photograph left for Manuel Tasso

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Tasso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Arturo Palma beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A move Daniel Rodriguez would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Daniel Rodriguez is living that version at Morelia, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Morelia

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

Morelia get the job done against Queretaro

A 1‑0 win over Queretaro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Fernando Valenzuela in the eights

A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rubén Del Campo

“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.

In brief

133 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marco Granados gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marco Granados has just signed for Morelia, and for once the answer mattered.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

No hiding place for Antonio Torres

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonio Torres, and the manager let it.

Squad

No place for Marco Granados in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Morelia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Antonio Torres

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.

The dugout

Marco Granados left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Marco Granados will call it something else in private.

The dugout

When it matters, Alonso Hernández plays

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Félix was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

132 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

A 2-goal lead gone for Morelia

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Guadalajara kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Morelia will be asked about the last half hour all week.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Morelia

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

Morelia close the window on a squad of their own making

2 in and 3 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.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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 ratings

José Juan Macías scored one and made one — 7.99

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.99, and 2 involvements.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Diego Gallegos falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

131 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Luka Ayala

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Ayala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Gallegos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Morelia rescue it on 88 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Leon had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Match

Morelia and Leon take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Álvaro López is in the works

Morelia have made the call to Penarol. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Diego Gallegos 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 Diego Gallegos is on it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Daniel Ramirez was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Morelia dressing room was either.

The dugout

Leonardo Vargas is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

In brief

130 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Morelia are in real trouble now

Position 16, 22 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

A move Abraham Flores would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Abraham Flores is living that version at Morelia, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Manuel Tasso is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Manuel Tasso keeps Morelia in it on his own

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 ratings

Uziel García was immovable

26 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Market

Morelia may not be able to give Fernando Valenzuela what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Fernando Valenzuela wants continental football; whether Morelia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Mateo Levy

Morelia asked and Cruz Azul said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Morelia get the job done against Toluca

A 1‑0 win over Toluca, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

129 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Luka Ayala has said yes to Pachuca

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Morelia have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Gallegos 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 targets

Pachuca tell Morelia: Owen González is not for sale

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.

Match

Morelia see off Chiapas

Three points for Morelia, 1‑0 the final word against Chiapas in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

The team sheet said everything about Antonio Torres

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Antonio Torres.

Player ratings

Rubén Del Campo was the difference for Morelia

Marked 7.94. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Squad

Santiago Vega signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Vega commits to Morelia for another 3 years.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Antonio Torres

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.

In brief

128 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Morelia board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

A hiding for Morelia

Beaten 0‑4 by Club America, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Óscar Hidalgo asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Salvador Manríquez stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Salvador Manríquez and Morelia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

Ivan Villa gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ivan Villa has just signed for Morelia, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Eyes on Luka Ayala again

The phone has started ringing about Luka Ayala again, and this time the name on the line is Pachuca. Morelia are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets

Penarol tell Morelia: Álvaro López is not for sale

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.

In brief

  • Looking ahead Morelia face Chiapas in the game that matters most
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Manuel Tasso
  • Boardroom Nobody left the Morelia dressing room in a hurry
127 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

The dugout

Orlando Botello says Morelia went back on their word

“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.

Market

Patricio García asks to leave Morelia

“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.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Pachuca take the points off Morelia

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Morelia count the cost of losing Manuel Aguilar

34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Manuel Aguilar signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Aguilar and Morelia agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Daniel Ramirez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Ramirez after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Player ratings

José Juan Macías runs at them all day

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.

In brief

126 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Morelia are in real trouble now

Position 17, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Manuel Tasso is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Morelia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Gallegos 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.

Match

Morelia find a way past Puebla

Puebla made Morelia work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Rubén Del Campo was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.63. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The dugout

The form table has caught Antonio Torres

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

A satisfied Daniel Ramirez

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Daniel Ramirez could afford to be generous.

The dugout

When it matters, Diego Gallegos plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

125 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Both of them Fernando Valenzuela's — 8.14

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

The drought breaks for Morelia

9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Tijuana were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

Words exchanged at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Morelia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Gallegos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Morelia find a way past Tijuana

Tijuana made Morelia work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Arturo Palma was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Antonio Torres

“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.

Squad

Morelia count the cost of losing Oribe Vega

32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Looking ahead

A six-pointer for Morelia

Puebla next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.

In brief

124 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Morelia has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

9 matches without a win for Morelia

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Morelia

Alonso Hernández 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.

Match

Morelia 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.

Match

Cruz Azul take the points off Morelia

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Manuel Tasso

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Manuel Tasso, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Félix 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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Daniel Ramirez left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Antonio Torres dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

123 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Morelia's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Morelia has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Manuel Tasso

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Alonso Hernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Morelia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Morelia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Gallegos 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.

Match

Monterrey take the points off Morelia

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Daniel Ramirez to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Luis Félix 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.

Looking ahead

The leaders are next for Morelia

Cruz Azul top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.

The dugout

Alejandro González is still paying for one afternoon at Morelia

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

In brief

122 Edition

The Morelia Chronicle

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Morelia sink to position 17

10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

7 matches without a win for Morelia

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Morelia are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Manuel Tasso stands alone

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Manuel Tasso

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Tasso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Morelia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at Morelia

Alonso Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Diego Gallegos 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Morelia against Pumas UNAM

1‑2 to Pumas UNAM, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Daniel Ramirez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Ramirez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Diego Abella

“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.

In brief