Marked for Kaio Mendes
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2032
76 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout6 Dec 2032
Pantera says Maipú went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
The dugout6 Dec 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad6 Dec 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Tomás Chetelain 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.
Market6 Dec 2032
Add another name to the list: Tigre have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Phillippe Oviedo. The answer from Maipú has not changed — yet.
Squad6 Dec 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aaron Sandoval and Maipú agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom6 Dec 2032
$862.8K of the owner's money at Maipú
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Boardroom6 Dec 2032
No signings allowed at Maipú
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad6 Dec 2032
Kaio Mendes 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2032
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom29 Nov 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Maipú
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market29 Nov 2032
“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.
The dugout29 Nov 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad29 Nov 2032
A falling-out at Maipú
Matías Viguet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2032
Marcelo Eggel 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2032
Maipú are $25.1M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout29 Nov 2032
“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 dugout29 Nov 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Maipú, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lisandro Cabrera
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Maipú lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 Nov 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Maipú is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout15 Nov 2032
Pulga keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Maipú may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Nov 2032
A falling-out at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom15 Nov 2032
Wages swallow 129% of the Maipú 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.
Squad15 Nov 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 dugout15 Nov 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aquilino Giménez, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2032
Tomás Chetelain has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Maipú 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.
Market15 Nov 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maipú know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2032
111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom1 Nov 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Maipú
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout1 Nov 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Nov 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera 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 Nov 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2032
The borrowing at Maipú reaches $25.1M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $25.1M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The dugout1 Nov 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Heiz, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Nov 2032
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market1 Nov 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maipú know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lisandro Cabrera
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Maipú lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout25 Oct 2032
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
The dugout25 Oct 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad25 Oct 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 dugout25 Oct 2032
The manager makes an example of Carlos Ramírez
“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.
Market25 Oct 2032
The name of Luciano Arnijas keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maipú say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2032
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Oct 2032
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Fernando Iglesias, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad11 Oct 2032
Words exchanged at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Squad11 Oct 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Eggel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom11 Oct 2032
Maipú cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
“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 dugout11 Oct 2032
“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.
Market11 Oct 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcelo Eggel signs something — a contract at Maipú or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2032
Lisandro Cabrera damages knee ligaments — 139 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 139 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2032
The scrutiny sharpens at Maipú
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Maipú is running low.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad4 Oct 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcelo Eggel and Maipú agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2032
$845.9K of the owner's money at Maipú
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio Mendes 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2032
The Maipú debt reaches $25.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
Nicolás Heiz gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Sep 2032
The knee: Lucas Acosta out for 137 days
137 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market20 Sep 2032
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Maipú they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings20 Sep 2032
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2032
A falling-out at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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.
Boardroom20 Sep 2032
156% of the income goes out in wages at Maipú
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.
The terraces20 Sep 2032
The crowd has taken to James Borja
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match18 Sep 2032
It finished 1‑0, and it was Francisco Ballesteros’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Maipú.
The dugout20 Sep 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kaio Mendes, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Maipú
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad6 Sep 2032
11 seasons and 345 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Player ratings6 Sep 2032
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.20 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings6 Sep 2032
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout6 Sep 2032
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Squad6 Sep 2032
A season average of 7.22 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
The owner puts $822.9K into Maipú
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The dugout6 Sep 2032
“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
Player ratings16 Aug 2032
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout16 Aug 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad16 Aug 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Aug 2032
At last: Maipú win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Madryn. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad16 Aug 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Eggel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Aug 2032
Three points for Maipú, 1‑0 the final word against Madryn in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom16 Aug 2032
Maipú cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Player ratings16 Aug 2032
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout16 Aug 2032
The team sheet said everything about Kaio Mendes
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Kaio Mendes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Aug 2032
No end in sight to Maipú's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Maipú has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings9 Aug 2032
Lisandro Cabrera, 34, rolls back the years — 7.93
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout9 Aug 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad9 Aug 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera 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 Aug 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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 Aug 2032
“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.
Market9 Aug 2032
Kaio Mendes is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Maipú has been clear about where Kaio Mendes stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match7 Aug 2032
Maipú and Arsenal take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout9 Aug 2032
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Maipú is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Jul 2032
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Aaron Sandoval reports back to Maipú with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom26 Jul 2032
Window shuts: 4 in, 7 out at Maipú
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match24 Jul 2032
The wait goes on for Maipú
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.
Squad26 Jul 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Eggel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Jul 2032
Wages swallow 169% of the Maipú 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.
The dugout26 Jul 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kaio Mendes, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Jul 2032
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.38 on the card, and the Maipú support went home talking about one name.
The dugout26 Jul 2032
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Noah Ferrari after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Jul 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad12 Jul 2032
Words exchanged at Maipú
Nicolás Heiz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Ballesteros 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 Jul 2032
No hiding place for Pantera
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pantera, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2032
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings12 Jul 2032
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Jul 2032
He is 18, and nobody at Maipú signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout12 Jul 2032
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.
The dugout12 Jul 2032
Half-satisfied: Noah Ferrari on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Player ratings7 Jun 2032
Lisandro Cabrera, 34, rolls back the years — 7.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
Felipe Figueroa: 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.” Maipú have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom7 Jun 2032
$609.2K from the owner keeps Maipú afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Market7 Jun 2032
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Maipú will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Boardroom7 Jun 2032
The borrowing at Maipú reaches $24.6M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $24.6M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Player ratings7 Jun 2032
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2032
Nicolás Heiz breaks a bone — 14 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings31 May 2032
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.21, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings31 May 2032
Up for the corner, and Luciano Arnijas delivers — 7.72
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luciano Arnijas scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The dugout31 May 2032
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom31 May 2032
Wages eat 149% of everything Maipú 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.
Match29 May 2032
Los Andes made Maipú work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 May 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio Mendes 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.
Match31 May 2032
Maipú at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 10, 22 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout31 May 2032
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.” Noah Ferrari kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2032
A fracture rules Nicolás Heiz out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2032
A falling-out at Maipú
Nicolás Heiz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match22 May 2032
A bad afternoon for Maipú against Atlanta
0‑1 to Atlanta, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom24 May 2032
Maipú cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad24 May 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 ratings24 May 2032
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 May 2032
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Noah Ferrari after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout24 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aquilino Giménez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2032
A fracture rules Nicolás Heiz out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match1 May 2032
No end in sight to Maipú's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Maipú has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 May 2032
A falling-out at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 May 2032
$489.6K from the owner keeps Maipú afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Boardroom3 May 2032
Wages eat 144% of everything Maipú 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.
Match1 May 2032
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio Mendes 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 dugout3 May 2032
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout3 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristopher Arellano, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2032
Nicolás Heiz breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Apr 2032
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Heiz, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2032
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Tomás Chetelain now has 51 of them across 140 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 Apr 2032
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Noah Ferrari after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match17 Apr 2032
Point won or two lost for Maipú?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Madryn? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market19 Apr 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maipú know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2032
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mateo Ortale’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Maipú needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2032
A fracture rules Nicolás Heiz out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings12 Apr 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.84, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
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Match10 Apr 2032
It finished 2‑0, and it was Lisandro Cabrera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Maipú.
Player ratings12 Apr 2032
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio Mendes 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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2032
The borrowing at Maipú reaches $23.2M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $23.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Noah Ferrari could afford to be generous.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
Tomás Chetelain has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Maipú 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
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2032
Nicolás Heiz breaks a bone — 77 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Match27 Mar 2032
3 matches without a goal for Maipú
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
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Match27 Mar 2032
A bad afternoon for Maipú against Almagro
0‑1 to Almagro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom29 Mar 2032
Embargo at Maipú
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio Mendes 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 dugout29 Mar 2032
“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.
Market29 Mar 2032
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alejandro Bravo has his answer from Maipú; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2032
84 days out for Nicolás Heiz after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Maipú will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Mar 2032
Nowhere to hide for Maipú
0‑3 against San Miguel, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings22 Mar 2032
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Mendes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nehemías Zubiaurre, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2032
Nobody left the Maipú dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Maipú lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2032
A fracture rules Nicolás Heiz out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings8 Mar 2032
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2032
$153.0K of the owner's money at Maipú
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Match6 Mar 2032
It finished 1‑0, and it was Lisandro Cabrera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Maipú.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Kaio Mendes 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2032
Wages swallow 105% of the Maipú 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
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.” Noah Ferrari, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aquilino Giménez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2032
105 days out for Nicolás Heiz after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Maipú will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings1 Mar 2032
Lisandro Cabrera, 34, rolls back the years — 7.96
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings1 Mar 2032
A defender's goal wins it for Maipú — 7.54
1 for Kaio Mendes, marked 7.54, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Maipú
Lisandro Cabrera 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 Mar 2032
100 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Match28 Feb 2032
Maipú get the job done against Racing
A 2‑1 win over Racing, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Mar 2032
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
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Boardroom1 Mar 2032
Maipú cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Feb 2032
A fracture rules Nicolás Heiz out for 112 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Feb 2032
No end in sight to Maipú's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Maipú has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings23 Feb 2032
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Feb 2032
San Martín left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Noah Ferrari left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad23 Feb 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Bravo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Ramírez, and the manager let it.
Market23 Feb 2032
The name of Lisandro Cabrera keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maipú say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
Kaio Mendes 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 Kaio Mendes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Feb 2032
Nicolás Heiz breaks a bone — 119 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
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Player ratings16 Feb 2032
Braulio Gennaro pops up at the right end — 7.71
7.71, 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.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Nicolás Heiz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Feb 2032
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Feb 2032
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. 12 actions, 7.23, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad16 Feb 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Mendes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Feb 2032
Maipú rescue it on 92 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Mitre had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Boardroom16 Feb 2032
The Maipú debt reaches $21.3M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Feb 2032
Nicolás Heiz breaks a bone — 126 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Feb 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luciano Arnijas commits to Maipú for another 4 years.
Squad9 Feb 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Feb 2032
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.
Squad9 Feb 2032
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Mendes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Feb 2032
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vinícius Uchella has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Maipú.
Boardroom9 Feb 2032
Wages eat 92% of everything Maipú 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 dugout9 Feb 2032
“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 dugout9 Feb 2032
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.” Noah Ferrari chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jan 2032
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Maipú lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Emiliano Gil breaks a bone — 29 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Jan 2032
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.
Market12 Jan 2032
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.
The dugout12 Jan 2032
The manager makes an example of Kaio Mendes
“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.
Squad12 Jan 2032
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Maipú are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market12 Jan 2032
The Nicolás Heiz talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maipú know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Jan 2032
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aquilino Giménez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Jan 2032
Maipú have let the market know Alejandro Bravo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
In brief
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Market
The window shut and Kaio Mendes is still in the building
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Mateo Ortale
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Match
Mid-table, and Maipú know it
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jan 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aquilino Giménez
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Maipú lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout5 Jan 2032
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Transfer targets5 Jan 2032
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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Kaio Mendes 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Boardroom5 Jan 2032
Wages eat 86% of everything Maipú 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Maipú will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Jan 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristopher Arellano, and the manager let it.
Market5 Jan 2032
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Maipú, another week without a signature from Vinícius Uchella.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Dec 2031
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Dec 2031
A falling-out at Maipú
Nicolás Heiz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Dec 2031
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Tomás Páez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets29 Dec 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Talleres have kept their man, and Maipú go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aquilino Giménez, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Dec 2031
A row about effort at Maipú
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Mendes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market29 Dec 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcelo Eggel signs something — a contract at Maipú or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces29 Dec 2031
The stands have heard the Lisandro Cabrera talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Maipú would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
Carlos Ramírez 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 Carlos Ramírez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout22 Dec 2031
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Squad22 Dec 2031
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Transfer targets22 Dec 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Maipú go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Bravo 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 dugout22 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Alejandro Bravo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
Tomás Chetelain has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Maipú 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.
Boardroom22 Dec 2031
Nobody arrives at Maipú until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Maipú this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Market22 Dec 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lisandro Cabrera signs something — a contract at Maipú or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market22 Dec 2031
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Thiago Cicerone may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.