Julian Angulo 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Real Santander, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Real Santander have done the hard part with Fortaleza CEIF, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jesús Mejía is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiber Mendoza 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.
Real Santander asked and Millonarios 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Julian Angulo
Everything agreed with Rosario Central, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Real Santander asked and San Telmo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jefferson Torres has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Camilo Rangel 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. Rafael Barrios is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The deal with Deportes Quindio is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Santiago Rey 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.
Real Santander asked and Deportivo Cali said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Rosario Central: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Diego Pérez 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.
Santiago Rey 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 Julian Angulo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Deportivo Cali have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Camilo Durán’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The deal with Independiente Medellin is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Luyz Caicedo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Diego Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Julian Angulo 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Johao Camacho 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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Santiago Rey’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Santiago Rey 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan David Ararat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The captaincy has been taken off Santiago Montoya. Real Santander will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
In brief
SquadWords at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Santiago Rey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo 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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Luyz Caicedo on the training pitch
Julian Angulo 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 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johao Camacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Julian Angulo 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. Rafael Duque 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. Gabriel Palacios is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Julian Angulo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Johao Camacho 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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Real Santander the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Santiago Rey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo 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 Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Luyz Caicedo 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.
Julian Angulo 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.
6 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johao Camacho 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.
Santiago Rey 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Real Santander training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Angulo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
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 0‑5 defeat, delivered by James Ramirez to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Diego Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Julian Angulo 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. Jose Sanchez 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. Hugo Ospina is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luis Garcia 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. Kevin Murillo 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Real Santander will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Julian Angulo and Real Santander agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Santander this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Julian Angulo 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.