Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Queretaro and Pachuca have settled on $260.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
Queretaro had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Diego Reyes 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queretaro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queretaro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Paulo Victor 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
Leon paid $1.9M and Queretaro took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Rubén Arellano has agreed terms with Morelia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queretaro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Queretaro offered $310.0K; Pachuca 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Lucas Abascia 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.
Queretaro asked and Real Salt Lake said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The offer went to Pachuca 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.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlo Adriano and Queretaro agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Huracán have kept their man, and Queretaro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Queretaro is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Hernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queretaro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: San Jose Earthquakes keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Diego Reyes 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Queretaro
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Morelia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Queretaro is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Queretaro have made the call to Gimnasia La Plata. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Queretaro have made the call to San Jose Earthquakes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Queretaro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queretaro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything agreed with DC United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Atlas moved on, Eduardo Pérez reports back to Queretaro, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iker Benito signs something — a contract at Queretaro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
Diego Reyes 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 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Victor is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A loan enquiry to Barracas Central: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Queretaro have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Santiago Homenchenko is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Queretaro can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queretaro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Diego Reyes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queretaro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Queretaro people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Michael Carcelén was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Homenchenko 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.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Queretaro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Victor is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Queretaro, and both men came out saying it was fine.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Queretaro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queretaro can pretend not to have heard.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Queretaro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queretaro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Diego Reyes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Queretaro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Queretaro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Diego Reyes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Victor 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Queretaro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queretaro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Lucas Abascia 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queretaro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Diego Reyes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edison Gruezo commits to Queretaro for another 5 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Victor is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Enzo Giménez wants continental football; whether Queretaro can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
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 words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bernardo Parra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Carlo Adriano signs something — a contract at Queretaro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bernardo Parra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Diego Reyes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paulo Victor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Queretaro has been clear about where Gerardo Gil stands, which is more than many ever get.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queretaro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Diego Reyes 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Christian Gutierrez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nestor Vega is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hugo Arteaga has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gabriel Pineda has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulo Victor 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.
Lucas Abascia 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jesús Vega is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have 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 Queretaro will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
The dugoutJosé Hernández asks for a word with the manager
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lucas Abascia 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.
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Gerardo Alvarez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Queretaro dressing room was either.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The 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.
Successful dribbles: 48. 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.
Michael Carcelén 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Homenchenko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chiapas? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Queretaro can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Bernardo Parra has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Waldo Madrid and Queretaro agree another 4 years.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gerardo Alvarez, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
SquadA Queretaro teenager takes the young player award
29Edition
The Queretaro Sentinel
15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondentSteady
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A brace, and Jhojan Julio takes the afternoon — 8.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jhojan Julio provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.76, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jhojan Julio. 2‑1 against Pachuca, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
10 combined actions and 6.80. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gerardo Alvarez, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Queretaro told Waldo Madrid something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Mateo Coronel
The deal that would have taken Eduardo Pérez to Morelia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Queretaro with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Queretaro.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Gerardo Alvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Queretaro close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 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.
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Lucas Abascia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edison Gruezo has his answer from Queretaro; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 Queretaro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Michael Carcelén was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guillermo Allison, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gerardo Alvarez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Queretaro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Diego Reyes 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gerardo Alvarez after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Cruz Azul next, and one man in the Queretaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iker Benito. 1‑0 against Pumas UNAM, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Gerardo Alvarez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Fernando Valenzuela is somebody else's player now, and $640.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
Michael Carcelén and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Emilio Albarran is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlos Villanueva and Queretaro agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Parra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Gerardo Alvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iker Benito. 1‑0 against Atlas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Gerardo Alvarez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Diego Reyes’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Queretaro needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Enzo Giménez wants continental football; whether Queretaro can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Paulo Victor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.87 on the card, and the Queretaro support went home talking about one name.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gerardo Alvarez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jhojan Julio signs something — a contract at Queretaro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Santos Laguna in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lucas Abascia 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 easiest signature of my career.” Pavel García and Queretaro agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gerardo Alvarez to a room that had heard them before.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iker Benito signs something — a contract at Queretaro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Michael Carcelén 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.
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Homenchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Gerardo Alvarez could afford to be generous.
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
SquadA Queretaro teenager takes the young player award
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Edison Gruezo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.69 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Position 9, 24 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
Leon left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gerardo Alvarez to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Guadalajara in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Homenchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Gerardo Alvarez could afford to be generous.
Lucas Abascia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bernardo Parra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Iker Benito is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Gerardo Alvarez could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Eduardo Pérez
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Mateo Coronel was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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.
“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 Queretaro, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 19 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.
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.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gerardo Alvarez to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 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.
7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Queretaro had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gerardo Alvarez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Humberto Norman is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
5 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Mateo Coronel was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gerardo Alvarez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Something was said to Carlos Villanueva and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Diego Reyes 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
0‑2 to Cruz Azul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Homenchenko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Tijuana next, and one man in the Queretaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Diego Reyes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guillermo Allison, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bernardo Parra 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.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Cruz Azul next, and one man in the Queretaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
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.
0‑1 to Pumas UNAM, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Bernardo Parra 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gerardo Alvarez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
0‑3 against Tigres, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Queretaro close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 2 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Lucas Abascia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Michael Carcelén has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
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 dugout7 Sep 2026
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 Gerardo Alvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jesús Vega
The offer from Guadalajara for Lucas Abascia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
The bid was some way short and Queretaro did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Edison Gruezo, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.19
A mark of 8.19 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Enzo Giménez wants continental football; whether Queretaro can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Diego Reyes 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edison Gruezo. 3‑2 against Santos Laguna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Carcelén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Edison Gruezo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Homenchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gerardo Alvarez to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Eduardo Pérez
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.
Santos Laguna next, and one man in the Queretaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Iker Benito had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Fernando Valenzuela was one of the reasons people came, and $4.1M does not replace that by itself.
The name of Bayron Duarte has come up in conversations Queretaro were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Diego Reyes 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Christian Sanchez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Abascia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The phone has started ringing about Iker Benito again, and this time the name on the line is Sporting Kansas City. Queretaro are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 7.89 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queretaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Queretaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Carcelén 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.