A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alvarado will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Luis Quiroga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The deal with Independiente 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.
Cristian Gorgerino 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 Chiozza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alvarado will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Hofstetter 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.
Nobody at Alvarado 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alvarado the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Chiozza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Alvarado 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.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alvarado have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Germán Cervera and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cristian Gorgerino was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Santiago Gutiérrez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Position 16 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Rodrigo Fernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Gorgerino 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Chiozza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kevin Heim has his answer from Alvarado; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Matías Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Germán Sosa commits to Alvarado for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Lucas Chiozza 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luis Quiroga after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 93% of everything Alvarado earn
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Alvarado can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Position 16 and 24 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Alvarado can tell you which week it ends in.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Belasitsa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Alvarado and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 1 matches say the rest.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luis Quiroga was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Alvarado dressing room was either.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Alvarado will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutKevin Heim is still being punished for one mistake
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Something was said to Benito Paklayan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
7.21, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Alvarado know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
A 0‑3 beating by Central Córdoba SdE was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$55.0K settles it between the clubs for Alan Rivero
Almirante Brown have accepted the money. What Alvarado do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Marked 6.87 on 18 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Gimnasia La Plata is saying, and nobody at Alvarado is enjoying the guessing.
Everything agreed with Argentinos Juniors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 15 actions, 6.37, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Pablo Hofstetter scored, was marked 7.30, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The deal with Madryn 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.
Matías Mansilla 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 offer went to Morón this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. All Boys had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Alvarado lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
The dugout31 May 2027
Kevin Heim 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.
Atlanta next, and one man in the Alvarado dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Position 15 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Gorgerino 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Luis Quiroga to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Alvarado has been clear about where Matías Mela stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Lucas Chiozza 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Madryn scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tomás Berra has his answer from Alvarado; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutLucas Chiozza asks for a word with the manager
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Luis Quiroga on the draw
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
0‑2 to Quilmes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Luis Quiroga to a room that had heard them before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Núñez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emmanuel Gómez Riga signs something — a contract at Alvarado or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Gutiérrez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Luis Quiroga after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Marked 4.51. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Valentín Ramírez has his answer from Alvarado; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Matías Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Tomás Fernández'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.
Nobody at Alvarado 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.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 dugout22 Mar 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.” Luis Quiroga chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Patronato? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Benito Paklayan'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.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gimnasia y Tiro left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Luis Quiroga to a room that had heard them before.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
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.
Güemes next, and one man in the Alvarado dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Cristian Gorgerino 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Alvarado and Arsenal, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
2‑4 to Arsenal, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza 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.
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.
1 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alvarado the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A loan enquiry to Deportivo Riestra: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Alvarado will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alvarado will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Alvarado have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Deportivo Riestra, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Lucas Chiozza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alvarado had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sarmiento, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thiago D'Archivio is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Lucas Chiozza 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.
Alvarado have made the call to Gimnasia y Esgrima. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Madryn is saying, and nobody at Alvarado is enjoying the guessing.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alvarado have made the call to Gimnasia y Esgrima. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alvarado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Alvarado have done the hard part with Tigre, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marco Miori has left for Gimnasia La Plata in a $190.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Lucas Chiozza 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Alvarado, another week without a signature from Ramiro Makarte.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Alvarado could ask drops and the wages Lucas Monzón can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Benito Paklayan's mistake
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alvarado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Chiozza 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.
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.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Matías Mansilla 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Lucas Chiozza 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alvarado know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Alvarado that is a harder question to answer.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alvarado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Matías Mansilla 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.
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Federico is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
16 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.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1‑4 to All Boys, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alvarado have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luis Quiroga after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alvarado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Matías Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Diego Rojas has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alvarado know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Alan Palavecino is on it.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alvarado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Luis Quiroga to a room that had heard them before.
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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Alvarado could ask drops and the wages Lucas Monzón can ask rise.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Matías Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Racing scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Alvarado, another week without a signature from Marco Miori.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Agustín Zapata 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.
Matías Mansilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Gutiérrez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Alvarado 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alvarado they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Centurión was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Alvarado are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Valentín Russo 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Juan Manuel Benítez 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joaquín Costa 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Liam Arias 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Chiozza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.