123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teruel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Javi Montero was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Del Moral was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Teruel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 37 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Javi Montero and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Del Moral 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.” Luka Lorenzo after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Domi Berlanga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Del Moral was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Teruel know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Teruel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Teruel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
0‑3 to Algeciras, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Teruel can tell you which week it ends in.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teruel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel 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 Abraham Del Moral was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Marten-Chris Paalberg.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
3‑0, and Marlon Faß took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Teruel tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A brace, and Marlon Faß takes the afternoon — 8.77
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marlon Faß provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Javi Montero 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 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Marbella were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Del Moral 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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Marlon Faß 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.
19 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
Player ratingsDomi Berlanga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Teruel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 39 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Álex Blesa will call it something else in private.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teruel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
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 6.58 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Javi Montero 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 Abraham Del Moral was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Teruel saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teruel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teruel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Del Moral 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.” Luka Lorenzo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teruel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Vigaray 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.
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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Luka Lorenzo to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teruel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Teruel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Carlos Vigaray 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luka Lorenzo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Oriol Rosell will call it something else in private.
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.
0‑3 to Gimnàstic, 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Teruel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Teruel, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marlon Faß did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Álex Blesa wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Álex Blesa found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and CE Europa went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.85 on the card, and the Teruel support went home talking about one name.
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.” Luka Lorenzo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
0‑3 to Atlético Madrileño, 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marlon Faß, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.86
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Domi Berlanga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marten-Chris Paalberg 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 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Marlon Faß 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.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teruel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Teruel 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Teruel have done the hard part with Leganés, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Vigaray is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Teruel can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Teruel have done the hard part with Castellón, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Teruel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Eibar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Domi Berlanga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Vigaray 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Teruel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.07 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Atlético Madrid is saying, and nobody at Teruel is enjoying the guessing.
Domi Berlanga 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 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 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Marten-Chris Paalberg 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.
0‑3 to Cartagena, 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Domi Berlanga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Vigaray was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Cartagena have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nathaniel Nicholas. The answer from Teruel has not changed — yet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Teruel, another week without a signature from Carlos Vigaray.
The dugout11 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 0‑3 Luka Lorenzo left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Jorge Sáenz is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Arnau Ortiz is in the works
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Teruel can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Teruel have done the hard part with Cádiz, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel 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 Carlos Vigaray was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teruel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Domi Berlanga. 1‑0 against Marbella, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
11 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Luka Lorenzo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutHugo Zarco asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 19 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Domi Berlanga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Chéchile was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marten-Chris Paalberg 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Teruel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
0‑3 to Villarreal B, 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.
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 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Domi Berlanga 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Teruel will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Chéchile 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 finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luka Lorenzo was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Teruel dressing room was either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Domi Berlanga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marten-Chris Paalberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Marlon Faß and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marten-Chris Paalberg 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 Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
14 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 dugout9 Nov 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 0‑1 Luka Lorenzo left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Teruel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Chéchile was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
George Corral 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Teruel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Domi Berlanga 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 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Domi Berlanga 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.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Antonio Martínez and Teruel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
20 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.
Pedro Mosquera arrives at 38 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Dani Pinillos is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Borja Domínguez arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Teruel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marten-Chris Paalberg 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 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.
Domi Berlanga 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 Marten-Chris Paalberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Teruel will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marlon Faß trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadA Teruel teenager takes the young player award
Talavera go through and Teruel go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
He is 20 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.
Nico van Rijn 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 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 Teruel will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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.
Teruel asked and Castellón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Felipe Chéchile 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.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luka Lorenzo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
That is the business done at Teruel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marten-Chris Paalberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Teruel asked and Rosario Central said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Teruel ran out of time with Pontevedra. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Felipe Chéchile 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Iván Ramos 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Relu’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Teruel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Teruel have done the hard part with Pontevedra, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is saying, and nobody at Teruel is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Teruel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Chéchile 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Teruel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Teruel asked and Burgos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everything agreed with Gimnasia y Esgrima, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Domi Berlanga 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.
A loan enquiry to Dynamo Dresden: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Teruel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teruel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Teruel will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
9 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.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jorge Paz has, at Teruel, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Domi Berlanga 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 Javi García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Fernando Santana 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. Héctor Carrasco 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.
Rosario Central 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.