A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Südtirol will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Federico Davi 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Südtirol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Südtirol will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Salvatore Molina 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Südtirol and Avellino in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ignacio Rossi has, at Südtirol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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 3, 17 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Alex Luna 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonás Acevedo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nicolás Watson has his answer from Instituto; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Alex Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Luna has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Maximiliano Ferreyra on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Nobody at Instituto 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Instituto 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 Jonás Acevedo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Maximiliano Ferreyra could afford to be generous.
Alex Luna 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 Alejandro Cabrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
1 for Hernán de la Fuente, marked 7.91, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Jonás Acevedo 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 controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Maximiliano Ferreyra, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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 Hernán de la Fuente is on it.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Maximiliano Ferreyra after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Instituto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Iván Erquiaga’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Instituto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Instituto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Instituto can pretend not to have heard.
Alex Luna 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jonás Acevedo. 1‑0 against San Lorenzo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
7 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Maximiliano Ferreyra on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ENPPI waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Alex Luna 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Luna has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lucas Benítez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Instituto have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Tissera signs something — a contract at Instituto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
BoardroomThe Instituto production line keeps running
Jonathan Galván 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.
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.
Nobody at Instituto 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Instituto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Gabriel Ratalín has just signed for Instituto, and for once the answer mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Instituto can pretend not to have heard.
Alex Luna and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
7 new faces, and Instituto 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.
In brief
The dugoutAlex Luna has become a man the manager trusts
The name of Matías Tissera has come up in conversations Instituto were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Alex Luna 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonás Acevedo 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.
Instituto ran out of time with Argentinos Juniors. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Felipe Ruiz 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. Mateo Ruiz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Romano 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Instituto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Instituto have had the benefit of it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Instituto have done the hard part with Argentinos Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Alex Luna 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Jonás Acevedo 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Instituto will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Instituto told Giuliano Cerato something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Instituto will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Alex Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Jonás Acevedo 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Instituto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alex Luna signs something — a contract at Instituto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Instituto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alex Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Milo 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 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 Hernán de la Fuente is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alex Luna signs something — a contract at Instituto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Instituto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Instituto. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.