Marked for Fausto Montero
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Maipú
Juan Pablo Gobetto 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Heiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Aron Agüero
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Maipú
18 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
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 dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Valentino Villalba was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Maipú dressing room was either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Heiz 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
At 22 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Cruz Giacone. 1‑0 against Gimnasia y Tiro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Diego Gaitán gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Maipú support went home talking about one name.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Maipú know it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Valentino Villalba on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Maipú
Juan Pablo Gobetto 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Maipú can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Heiz 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bautista Ortiz 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Carlos Rossi joins the Maipú first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlos Rossi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.