Marked for Lucas Toffoletti
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 May 2037
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 May 2037
A fracture rules Alejo Carnovale out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 May 2037
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market18 May 2037
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 May 2037
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad18 May 2037
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match16 May 2037
3 matches without a goal for Talleres
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.
Match16 May 2037
0‑2 to San Martín SJ, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings18 May 2037
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 May 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match9 May 2037
The wait goes on for Talleres
10 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.
Market11 May 2037
“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.
Squad11 May 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 May 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad11 May 2037
“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.
Match9 May 2037
0‑1 to Defensores Unidos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings11 May 2037
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market11 May 2037
The name of Lucas Toffoletti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Talleres say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Apr 2037
A fracture rules Alejo Carnovale out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Apr 2037
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match11 Apr 2037
The wait goes on for Talleres
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.
Market13 Apr 2037
“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.
Squad13 Apr 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Apr 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match11 Apr 2037
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings13 Apr 2037
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market13 Apr 2037
The name of Lucas Toffoletti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Talleres say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Mar 2037
A fracture rules Alejo Carnovale out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Mar 2037
“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.
Squad16 Mar 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Mar 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad16 Mar 2037
“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.
Player ratings16 Mar 2037
Marked 8.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Talleres.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Mar 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings9 Mar 2037
31 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings9 Mar 2037
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Matías Bazzi 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 Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match7 Mar 2037
A 1‑0 win over Temperley, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings9 Mar 2037
Bostero shuts the door
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad9 Mar 2037
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.
Player ratings9 Mar 2037
Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Feb 2037
A fracture rules Alejo Carnovale out for 122 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad23 Feb 2037
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.
Squad23 Feb 2037
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad23 Feb 2037
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match21 Feb 2037
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market23 Feb 2037
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Versaci signs something — a contract at Talleres or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Player ratings
Pedro Varela runs at them all day
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Player ratings
Bostero could not find anything
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Boardroom
The Talleres production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Feb 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Feb 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match14 Feb 2037
1‑2 to Agropecuario Argentino, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jan 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jan 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad26 Jan 2037
Lucas Toffoletti has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Talleres 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
Uneasy
The terraces5 Jan 2037
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market5 Jan 2037
“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.
Squad5 Jan 2037
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 Talleres have had the benefit of it.
Squad5 Jan 2037
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad5 Jan 2037
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Toffoletti and Talleres agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jan 2037
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pochi 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces8 Dec 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Alejo Carnovale was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Mauricio Lacerda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Dec 2036
Bruno Bianchi 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Matías Bazzi 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 Dec 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Lucas Toffoletti has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Talleres 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.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Talleres 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.
Market1 Dec 2036
The name of Federico Versaci keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Talleres say nothing, which says plenty.
In brief
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Market
The shop window has Pochi in it
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Boardroom
The Talleres production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Nov 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Alejo Carnovale 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 Nov 2036
Mauricio Lacerda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Nov 2036
“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.
Squad3 Nov 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2036
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matías Bazzi and Talleres agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces13 Oct 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad13 Oct 2036
A fracture rules Matvey Rebeshkin out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Oct 2036
Matías Bazzi 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 Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Sep 2036
A fracture rules Matvey Rebeshkin out for 45 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 Sep 2036
“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.
Match20 Sep 2036
The wait goes on for Talleres
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.
Squad22 Sep 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Sep 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings22 Sep 2036
Eduardo Vidal was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.69. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad22 Sep 2036
11 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Lucas Toffoletti has given nobody the chance.
Player ratings22 Sep 2036
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.
Match20 Sep 2036
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces15 Sep 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad15 Sep 2036
A fracture rules Matvey Rebeshkin out for 52 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Sep 2036
Pochi 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Sep 2036
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad15 Sep 2036
Federico Versaci was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Sep 2036
Mauricio Lacerda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Sep 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Sep 2036
“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 Talleres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Sep 2036
20 goals and a season average of 7.55. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings1 Sep 2036
Mauricio Lacerda, 33, rolls back the years — 8.56
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.56 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad1 Sep 2036
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.
Squad1 Sep 2036
Federico Versaci 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Aug 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Matías Bazzi 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.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
Marked 8.94. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Talleres.
Match23 Aug 2036
It finished 1‑0, and it was Juan Pablo Lombardi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Talleres.
Squad25 Aug 2036
11 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Lucas Toffoletti has given nobody the chance.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
A defender's afternoon for Bruno Bianchi
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
16 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.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces18 Aug 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Defences have started doubling up on Mauricio Lacerda
19 goals and a season average of 7.54 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match16 Aug 2036
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Alejo Carnovale 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.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match16 Aug 2036
San Telmo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings18 Aug 2036
Ninety minutes of Eduardo Vidal at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Talleres.
Player ratings18 Aug 2036
Successful dribbles: 13. 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
Squad28 Jul 2036
A fracture rules Matvey Rebeshkin out for 103 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Jul 2036
“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.
Squad28 Jul 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jul 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Jul 2036
9 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Player ratings28 Jul 2036
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces21 Jul 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad21 Jul 2036
A fracture rules Matvey Rebeshkin out for 110 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Talleres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Jul 2036
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Jul 2036
A brace, and Mauricio Lacerda takes the afternoon — 8.74
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mauricio Lacerda provided it, and the 8.74 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Jul 2036
19 goals and a season average of 7.59. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad21 Jul 2036
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.
Squad21 Jul 2036
Federico Versaci 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 ratings21 Jul 2036
A performance of 9.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 Jul 2036
Successful dribbles: 13. 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
Player ratings30 Jun 2036
A defender's afternoon for Eduardo Vidal
Defensive actions: 34. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market30 Jun 2036
“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 Talleres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Jun 2036
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Jun 2036
Defences have started doubling up on Mauricio Lacerda
17 goals and a season average of 7.57 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings30 Jun 2036
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings30 Jun 2036
Bruno Bianchi, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69
A mark of 7.69 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad30 Jun 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jun 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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 terraces30 Jun 2036
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Pedro Varela 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces23 Jun 2036
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market23 Jun 2036
“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 Talleres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jun 2036
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad23 Jun 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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 ratings23 Jun 2036
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.
Squad23 Jun 2036
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Jun 2036
No hiding place for Pochi
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pochi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings23 Jun 2036
Marked 7.73. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match21 Jun 2036
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Defensores will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad16 Jun 2036
Defences have started doubling up on Mauricio Lacerda
16 goals and a season average of 7.54 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad16 Jun 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jun 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match14 Jun 2036
It finished 2‑0, and it was Mauricio Lacerda’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Talleres.
Squad16 Jun 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Toffoletti, and the manager let it.
Match14 Jun 2036
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Newell's Old Boys tried to reorganise, Talleres did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
Eduardo Vidal was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Jun 2036
11 matches without a win for Talleres
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Talleres are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Jun 2036
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match4 Jun 2036
Talleres bow out of the cup
Boca Juniors go through and Talleres go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match7 Jun 2036
9 matches without a goal for Talleres
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market9 Jun 2036
Pochi 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Jun 2036
Federico Versaci 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 Jun 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad9 Jun 2036
Matías Bazzi 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.
Match7 Jun 2036
0‑1 to Agropecuario Argentino, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces26 May 2036
Anger at Talleres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match24 May 2036
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Match24 May 2036
Talleres cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad26 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 May 2036
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 May 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 May 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match10 May 2036
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 May 2036
Matías Acosta 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 May 2036
Talleres cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad12 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 May 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match10 May 2036
0‑1 to San Miguel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings12 May 2036
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.
Squad12 May 2036
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iván Bruno commits to Talleres for another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Apr 2036
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The terraces28 Apr 2036
Anger at Talleres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match23 Apr 2036
Cup progress for Talleres
A 0‑0 win over Estudiantes, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match26 Apr 2036
4 matches without a win for Talleres
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Talleres are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Bazzi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.67 on the card, and the Talleres support went home talking about one name.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Federico Versaci has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Talleres 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.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Valentino Lombardi 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces31 Mar 2036
Anger at Talleres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match29 Mar 2036
Whatever happens, Talleres do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Matías Bazzi 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.
Squad31 Mar 2036
10 goals and a season average of 7.48. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings31 Mar 2036
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Mar 2036
The manager makes an example of Bruno Bianchi
“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.
Match29 Mar 2036
A 1‑1 draw with Nueva Chicago leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market31 Mar 2036
The name of Lucas Toffoletti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Talleres say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Mar 2036
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
A brace, and Tomás Suárez takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tomás Suárez provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match22 Mar 2036
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Talleres did not have in the autumn.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Alejo Carnovale 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.
Squad24 Mar 2036
9 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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 Mar 2036
A performance of 9.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Feb 2036
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match23 Feb 2036
Talleres settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Defensores spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Tano signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tano commits to Talleres for another 3 years.
Match23 Feb 2036
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad25 Feb 2036
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.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces4 Feb 2036
Anger at Talleres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match2 Feb 2036
The wait goes on for Talleres
10 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.
Squad4 Feb 2036
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad4 Feb 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Federico Versaci and Talleres agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
8 academy players handed senior numbers at Talleres
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings4 Feb 2036
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market4 Feb 2036
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Emiliano Ramírez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jan 2036
Federico Versaci 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.
Squad14 Jan 2036
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad14 Jan 2036
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
Market17 Dec 2035
“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.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Alejo Carnovale 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 Dec 2035
Mauricio Lacerda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Nov 2035
“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.
Market19 Nov 2035
Matías Acosta 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Federico Versaci 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces12 Nov 2035
Anger at Talleres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad12 Nov 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Oct 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Talleres may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 Oct 2035
Matías Acosta 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Federico Versaci 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Oct 2035
Bruno Bianchi 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Sep 2035
The wait goes on for Talleres
9 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.
Market24 Sep 2035
“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 Talleres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Sep 2035
Matías Samaniego 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.
Squad24 Sep 2035
Mauricio Lacerda 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 Sep 2035
Nobody could get near Pochi
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Sep 2035
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces17 Sep 2035
The mood at Talleres has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match15 Sep 2035
The wait goes on for Talleres
8 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.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Federico Versaci 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 Sep 2035
14 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Mauricio Lacerda 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 ratings17 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
Marked 7.80. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad17 Sep 2035
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.
Match15 Sep 2035
Point won or two lost for Talleres?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Gimnasia y Esgrima? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Sep 2035
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match8 Sep 2035
The wait goes on for Talleres
7 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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Bazzi 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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Getting past Lucas Toffoletti has become the hardest job in the division
13 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad10 Sep 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces10 Sep 2035
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Pablo Lombardi 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.
Player ratings10 Sep 2035
Marked 8.52. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Talleres.
Match8 Sep 2035
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings10 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Crisis
Match25 Aug 2035
No end in sight to Talleres's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Talleres has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Aug 2035
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Match25 Aug 2035
3 matches without a goal for Talleres
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.
Match25 Aug 2035
0‑1 to Estudiantes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings27 Aug 2035
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Aug 2035
The manager makes an example of Bruno Bianchi
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benicio Ortiz and Talleres agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Aug 2035
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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Talleres may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Match11 Aug 2035
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Central Norte came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Aug 2035
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings6 Aug 2035
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market6 Aug 2035
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings6 Aug 2035
Federico Versaci, 33, rolls back the years — 8.43
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.43 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Matías Samaniego 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.
Match4 Aug 2035
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match4 Aug 2035
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Talleres and Colón in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad6 Aug 2035
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market30 Jul 2035
Matías Acosta 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Jul 2035
Still nobody has beaten Talleres
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauricio Lacerda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Marked 7.98. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Lucas Toffoletti has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Talleres 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.
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Jul 2035
Bruno Bianchi 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 Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Jul 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Federico Versaci and Talleres agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2035
Matías Samaniego 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 Jul 2035
Mauricio Lacerda 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.
Squad9 Jul 2035
“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.
Match7 Jul 2035
A 1‑1 draw with Chaco For Ever leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.