Marked for Nicolás Mosca
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 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 The request is on a desk at Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market10 Jan 2028
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad10 Jan 2028
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atlanta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market10 Jan 2028
Bandar Al-Juhani is 17, and Atlanta 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Acosta and Atlanta agree another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Gimnasia y Esgrima waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market27 Dec 2027
Nicolás Mosca 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with Almirante Brown, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Alejo Dramisino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Bestia out for 16 days
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Bestia, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market27 Dec 2027
Newell's Old Boys pay $99.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets27 Dec 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
113% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
A loan enquiry to San Martín SJ: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 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.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with Vélez, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Alejo Dramisino 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Tomás Rojas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Maguicha 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market13 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Agustín Mieres signs something — a contract at Atlanta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market13 Dec 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Agustín Mieres may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market29 Nov 2027
Kevin Benítez 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Alejo Dramisino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Bestia out for 45 days
The medical room confirms 45 days on the sidelines for Bestia, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 122% of everything Atlanta earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Lucas Ríos asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market29 Nov 2027
The Lucas Ríos talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Match29 Nov 2027
Atlanta have something to play for
Position 6 on 54 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Joaquín Menafra out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlanta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Nicolás Medina
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Medina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Alejo Dramisino 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 70 days on the sidelines for Alejandro Quintana, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Gustavo Mendoza for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Atlanta will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Castro Ponce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market15 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Agustín Mieres signs something — a contract at Atlanta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Oct 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.
Market18 Oct 2027
Nicolás Medina has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Tomás Rojas knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Rojas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Tomás Castro Ponce keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Atlanta say nothing, which says plenty.
Market18 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nicolás Mosca may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A wage question at Atlanta
Rodrigo Sosa has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Kevin Benítez has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Sep 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nicolás Medina has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Alejo Dramisino 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Sosa
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
David Maguicha 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Juan Pablo Iglesias was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Atlanta dressing room was either.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Nicolás Mosca 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 Nicolás Mosca is on it.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
The chances came and went for Lautaro Fedele
14 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Aug 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match14 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play Atlanta right now
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.
Squad16 Aug 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Ignacio Rodríguez
13 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match14 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ignacio Rodríguez. 2‑1 against Los Andes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout16 Aug 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Aug 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Rodrigo Sosa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Sosa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Rodrigo Sosa has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Alejo Dramisino 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Colegiales made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Match31 Jul 2027
At last: Atlanta win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Colegiales. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Ninety minutes of Alejo Dramisino at his very best
Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlanta.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Juan Pablo Iglesias could afford to be generous.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Gustavo Mendoza
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with Almirante Brown, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Atlanta's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlanta has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Atlanta asked and Gimnasia La Plata said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeremías Rodríguez Puch, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nicolás Medina 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
Tomás Rojas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
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Match
No goals between Atlanta and Alvarado
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout31 May 2027
Federico Castro: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Ferrari 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 dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonel Galeano, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 May 2027
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.
Match31 May 2027
Halfway: Atlanta sit in position 6
28 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 May 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 May 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.
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Atlanta's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlanta has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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
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
“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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 128% of everything Atlanta earn
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.
Squad17 May 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Match15 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Maipú leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Nobody could get near Lucas Ríos
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Ríos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Pablo Iglesias after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout10 May 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Chances created: 10. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
The dugout10 May 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2027
Cup progress for Atlanta
A 1‑0 win over Godoy Cruz, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.68 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market26 Apr 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
6 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Atlanta do not lose
8 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 Apr 2027
Leonel Galeano 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 terraces26 Apr 2027
He is 23 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Apr 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ignacio Rodríguez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Atlanta.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Federico Bisanz 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Lucas Ríos beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout12 Apr 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.” Juan Pablo Iglesias kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Leonel Galeano knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonel Galeano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kevin Benítez has his answer from Atlanta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Luis 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Federico Bisanz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 Mar 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Patronato leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Nicolás Mosca
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Squad29 Mar 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Atlanta have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Mar 2027
Mauro Medina 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Nicolás Previtali delivers — 7.85
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Nicolás Previtali scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad15 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Madryn made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Alejo Dramisino
“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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Mosca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 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.” Juan Pablo Iglesias, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Market15 Mar 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lucas Carbone has his answer from Atlanta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Carlos Pérez
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tomás Rojas 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Mosca and Atlanta agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Leonel Galeano asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Lucas Ríos has moved up it.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market4 Jan 2027
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
Martín García 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 192% of the Atlanta 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Patricio Ostachuk 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 dugout28 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Leonel Galeano knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonel Galeano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Lautaro López 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 Lautaro López is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Santino Pasini has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market21 Dec 2026
Santino Pasini has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Atlanta asked and Gimnasia y Esgrima said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nicolás Mosca 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Gimnasia y Esgrima 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Lautaro Fedele knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Fedele trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nicolás Medina: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Atlanta will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patricio Ostachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Santino Pasini, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Sosa 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 Rodrigo Sosa is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Mosca 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Mosca
“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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Leonel Galeano knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonel Galeano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Agustín Morales has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Atlanta board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 200% of everything Atlanta earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Federico Bisanz
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Christian Bernardi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Moreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Lautaro Fedele asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market2 Nov 2026
Atlanta have made Martín García available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
Mateo Ferrari 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Rodrigo Moreira: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Pablo Herrera is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Felipe Bianchi 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Moreira 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 Agustín Morales is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Mosca 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Atlanta
25 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 dugout28 Sep 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Juan Pablo Iglesias to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Rojas, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Leonel Galeano asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Federico Bisanz: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Racing left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Moreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Leonel Galeano's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout21 Sep 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 1‑3 Juan Pablo Iglesias left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 21 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Morales. 1‑0 against Los Andes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Federico Bisanz
“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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.96. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Nicolás Mosca 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 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Christian Bernardi
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Juan Pablo Iglesias could afford to be generous.
The dugout17 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Nicolás Mosca delivers — 7.76
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Nicolás Mosca scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad10 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Leonel Galeano
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Liam Ríos 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alejandro Cabrera is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Carlos Alberto Torres has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Ángel Molina is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.