18 goals in 26 games at Cracovia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Zaragoza updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Álvaro Odriozola 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Pablo Insua falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Víctor Reyes 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ismael León is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Álvaro Odriozola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Juan Brunetta 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.
Something was said to Pablo Insua and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Héctor Morales after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jokin Gabilondo 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.
Tomás Conechny 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Juan Brunetta 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.
A point taken on 92 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.
It needed Juan Brunetta to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Deportivo La Coruña, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.
The offer from Girona for Toni Moya was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaragoza people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza 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 Pablo Insua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Real Sociedad; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Sebas Moyano takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sebas Moyano provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaragoza people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Albacete for Diego González 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Getafe paid $1.3M and Zaragoza took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The offer from Levante for Sem Westerveld 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 is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Zaragoza can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Tomás Conechny 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Toni Moya. 1‑0 against Valladolid, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A loan enquiry to Deportivo La Coruña: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Tomás Conechny 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Insua 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: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
20 appearances away from home and 14 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad21 Dec 2026
8 new faces, and Zaragoza are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The 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.
“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.
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Burgos 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alejandro Vargas 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
11 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaragoza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Tomás Conechny and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Insua 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 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaragoza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Tomás Conechny 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Juan Brunetta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Juan Brunetta 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Tomás Conechny and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Insua 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.
0‑1 to Córdoba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Nov 2026
12 new faces, and Zaragoza are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
10 goals in 15 games at Cracovia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Zaragoza updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout16 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 Héctor Morales left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaragoza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Getafe go through and Zaragoza go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Tomás Conechny 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Deportivo La Coruña to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zaragoza and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 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.” Zaragoza have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Brunetta wants continental football; whether Zaragoza can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Tomás Conechny was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Brunetta 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sergio Escudero is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zaragoza told Sebas Moyano something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zaragoza will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza 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 Pablo Insua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabricio Iacovich, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 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 1‑2 Héctor Morales left the room before anybody could ask which.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Albacete left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Oct 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 Héctor Morales left the room before anybody could ask which.
7 goals in 11 games at Cracovia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Zaragoza updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaragoza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Tomás Conechny and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Brunetta 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zaragoza, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Héctor Morales after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaragoza lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Tomás Conechny 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.
23 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 dugout5 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 Héctor Morales to a room that had heard them before.
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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaragoza lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaragoza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jairo Villalpando has, at Zaragoza, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Marked 8.13 — 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matías Pérez Acuña has his answer from Zaragoza; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaragoza lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Tomás Conechny and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Juan Brunetta 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.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Tomás Conechny was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaragoza lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tomás Conechny 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.
Zaragoza 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Roberto Díaz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zaragoza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oriol Rosell 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 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaragoza lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Racing Club did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $7.5M for Tomás Conechny, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The offer from Córdoba for Marcos Cuenca 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Zaragoza close the window on a squad of their own making
25 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zaragoza heard it as anything else.
Tomás Conechny 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 Juan Brunetta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Zaragoza now.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Zaragoza spend $7.5M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $7.5M for Tomás Conechny, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
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.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $4.8M has been paid because Charlie Patiño is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $2.4M has been paid because Fabricio Iacovich is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matías Pérez Acuña has, at Zaragoza, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Brunetta wants continental football; whether Zaragoza can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Charlie Patiño was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $4.8M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaragoza lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Zaragoza have gone to Racing Club with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The deal with Estudiantes 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.
Zaragoza offered $1.1M; Burgos 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.
Pablo Insua and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Toni Moya 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.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaragoza lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Zaragoza have paid $12.9M for Juan Brunetta, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
$4.8M on the table at Deportivo La Coruña. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Juan Brunetta was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $12.9M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Insua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Betis have kept their man, and Zaragoza go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Zaragoza have gone to Burgos with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaragoza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jan Cano 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. Ismael Serrano is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hugo Peña has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
SquadOriol Rosell falls out with a teammate over standards
Zaragoza have gone to Tigres with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Zaragoza offered $1.8M; Real Madrid 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.
Paul Akouokou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Toni Moya 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Zaragoza go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Still no offer on the table, and Sebas Moyano’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.