Marked for Joel Ghirardello
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
A brace, and Agustín Hermoso takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Agustín Hermoso provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market17 Jul 2028
Criciúma come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Acassuso did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match15 Jul 2028
Acassuso are at home on the road
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Acassuso
Joel Ghirardello and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Comunicaciones have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jan 2028
Lucas Pioli hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez 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 Jan 2028
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ramiro Reynoso 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Lázaro Romero, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Agustín Heredia
“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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joel Ghirardello trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Jerónimo Pourtau 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
Natan Acosta 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Natan Acosta has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Acassuso will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Acassuso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Acassuso know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jan 2028
Juan Pablo Frías damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Acassuso, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jan 2028
Acassuso say no — this time
The offer from Independiente for Natan Acosta 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Acassuso people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market3 Jan 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Patricio Pérez reports back to Acassuso with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Gimnasia La Plata, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Acassuso
Jerónimo Pourtau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Dec 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad20 Dec 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Acassuso will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Patricio Pérez 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Belgrano have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market20 Dec 2027
Franco Ramallo is 19, and Acassuso have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 91% of the Acassuso income
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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A loan enquiry to Boca Juniors: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Too much change too quickly at Acassuso
5 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Acassuso
Jerónimo Pourtau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Lucas Rey pulls a muscle — 16 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Ayrton Portillo 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.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maipú have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market6 Dec 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Joel Ghirardello has his answer from Acassuso; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market6 Dec 2027
Add another name to the list: Talleres have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Manuel Tasso. The answer from Acassuso has not changed — yet.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mariano Monllor, and the manager let it.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
One of those days for Lucho Vega
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Jerónimo Pourtau 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayrton Portillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market15 Nov 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lázaro Romero has his answer from Acassuso; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mariano Monllor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
The leaders are next for Acassuso
Sportivo Italiano top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“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.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kevin Dubini’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Acassuso needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jerónimo Pourtau’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Acassuso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayrton Portillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Jano Díaz has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Acassuso have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Match2 Oct 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Alex Álvarez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Acassuso.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Enzo López kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Heredia, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Window shuts: 3 in, 9 out at Acassuso
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Comunicaciones, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market26 Jul 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alexis González Duarte reports back to Acassuso with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match24 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Acassuso
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Acassuso asked and Talleres said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Joel Ghirardello 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Acassuso and Estudiantes have settled on $78.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Acassuso offered $41.0K; Independiente 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Leandro Lescano 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Agustín Hermoso out for 49 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Acassuso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ASA waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Acassuso is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Matías Cortave: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Acassuso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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 Acassuso, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Defensa y Justicia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Jerónimo Pourtau 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.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Acassuso offered $34.0K; Alvarado 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
56 days out for Agustín Hermoso after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Acassuso will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Lucho Vega runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Manuel Tasso: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Acassuso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Morón, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Ghirardello 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Acassuso have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market28 Jun 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Acassuso can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Agustín Hermoso out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Acassuso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Colegiales had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jun 2027
Ayacucho come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Acassuso did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Banfield is saying, and nobody at Acassuso is enjoying the guessing.
Market14 Jun 2027
The chase for Jerónimo Pourtau ended with $190.0K changing hands and Temperley out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Joel Ghirardello 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Sportivo Italiano left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
$110.0K settles it between the clubs for Joaquín Enrico
San Telmo have accepted the money. What Acassuso do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market7 Jun 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Patricio Pérez 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Kevin Dubini pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Ghirardello 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Natan Acosta
“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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Marked 7.45. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
In brief
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Boardroom
87% of the income goes out in wages at Acassuso
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Lucho Vega
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Agustín Hermoso out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Acassuso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match29 May 2027
The run at home goes on for Acassuso
17 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match29 May 2027
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Excursionistas spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez 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 May 2027
David de Stéfano 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 dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Diego Roberts’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Acassuso.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A mark of 7.78, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout31 May 2027
Natan Acosta is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 May 2027
3 matches without a goal for Acassuso
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match22 May 2027
San Martín de Burzaco left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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.
The dugout24 May 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
103 days out for Agustín Hermoso after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Acassuso will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 May 2027
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad17 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Joel Ghirardello 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 dugout17 May 2027
Alex Ruiz 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.
Market17 May 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Diego Roberts has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Acassuso.
The dugout17 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Enzo López chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout17 May 2027
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 dugout17 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
A fracture rules Agustín Hermoso out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Acassuso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match1 May 2027
The run at home goes on for Acassuso
15 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Acassuso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Patricio Pérez 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Joel Ghirardello 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 terraces3 May 2027
He is 22 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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.10 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
Agustín Heredia damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Still nobody has beaten Acassuso
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor 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 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Apr 2027
A 1‑0 win over Los Andes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
One of those days for Lucho Vega
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matías Cortave commits to Acassuso for another 1 years.
The dugout12 Apr 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.” Enzo López, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Acassuso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Heredia
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Acassuso lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match3 Apr 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Deportivo Merlo, and it could have been more.
Match3 Apr 2027
Acassuso make home a hard place to visit
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Mariano Monllor 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Acassuso did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
One of those days for Lucho Vega
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Agustín Hermoso was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Lucas Rey 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Heredia
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Acassuso lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Mar 2027
Acassuso make home a hard place to visit
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Acassuso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Ghirardello 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Enzo López was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Acassuso dressing room was either.
Squad22 Mar 2027
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Acassuso will feel it on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
Agustín Heredia damages knee ligaments — 83 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Ghirardello 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Three points for Acassuso, 1‑0 the final word against Villa Dálmine in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Ramiro Reynoso at his very best
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Acassuso.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market1 Mar 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Enzo López on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Acassuso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Santiago Borges: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Acassuso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market8 Feb 2027
The bid was some way short and Acassuso did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Mariano Monllor 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Hermoso and Acassuso agree another 4 years.
Match6 Feb 2027
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Joel Ghirardello 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bruno Dordoni
“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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Enzo López on the draw
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Joaquín Ramírez out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Acassuso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Acassuso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Acassuso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Ghirardello 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlético Tucumán have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market18 Jan 2027
Bruno Dordoni is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Acassuso has been clear about where Bruno Dordoni stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Román Etcheverri, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Acassuso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Agustín Heredia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
$1.4M from Racing Club for Felipe Senn. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market28 Dec 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market28 Dec 2026
Kevin Dubini hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Acassuso can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Acassuso sell a favourite for $1.4M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Felipe Senn was one of the reasons people came, and $1.4M does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Joaquín Rivero has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Acassuso have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Fe have kept their man, and Acassuso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces21 Dec 2026
Joaquín Cancio has gone, the accounts have $310.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Acassuso had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The deal with Boca Juniors 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Vélez paid $310.0K and Acassuso took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Acassuso have made David Escalante available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Agustín Heredia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Banfield, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Dec 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 Acassuso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
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.
Market7 Dec 2026
No place for Felipe Senn in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Felipe Senn has his answer from Acassuso; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Franco Cortés
“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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Acassuso make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Lucas Rey
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
San Lorenzo 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Rodríguez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Acassuso the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mariano Monllor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Joel Ghirardello 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of David Escalante
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Acassuso know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Diego Roberts gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Diego Roberts is on it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Acassuso will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market16 Nov 2026
Lucas Rey runs his contract down
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Acassuso money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Acassuso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Lucho Vega
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Acassuso
Mariano Monllor 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Acassuso do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Acassuso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Ghirardello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Acassuso, 2‑0 the final word against Villa Dálmine in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.01 — 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Acassuso
Something was said to Natan Acosta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Enzo López, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.