Marked for Lautaro Carrera
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces25 Jun 2029
Supporters organise against the Gimnasia y Esgrima board
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.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Jun 2029
Tomás Giménez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gimnasia y Esgrima they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
$71.0K on the table at Mitre. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad25 Jun 2029
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Agustín Nieto
“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 Jun 2029
The clock does Tomás Giménez’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Gimnasia y Esgrima could ask drops and the wages Tomás Giménez can ask rise.
Market25 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Franco Saavedra signs something — a contract at Gimnasia y Esgrima or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gimnasia y Esgrima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jun 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Diego Mondino slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Diego Mondino is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad4 Jun 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Ismael Cortez
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ismael Cortez has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gimnasia y Esgrima have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market4 Jun 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ángel Castañares may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Julián Ceballos has moved up it.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces28 May 2029
Supporters organise against the Gimnasia y Esgrima board
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.
Market28 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Mateo Pacheco
“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.
Market28 May 2029
The clock does Tomás Giménez’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Gimnasia y Esgrima could ask drops and the wages Tomás Giménez can ask rise.
The dugout28 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Franco Saavedra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad28 May 2029
Lautaro Carrera has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad28 May 2029
Santiago Roggero makes the division’s eleven — 6.73
Marked 6.73, and picked in the team of the week for it. He was the best player on that pitch and the selectors saw the same match everybody else did.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 May 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market21 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gimnasia y Esgrima can pretend not to have heard.
Match19 May 2029
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market21 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout21 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Joel Lucero
“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 dugout21 May 2029
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.” Valentín Acosta kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout21 May 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gimnasia y Esgrima told Santiago Rodríguez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Feb 2029
“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 Gimnasia y Esgrima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Feb 2029
3 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
0‑2 to Defensa y Justicia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Giménez, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Gimnasia y Esgrima ran out of time with Agropecuario Argentino. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mateo Pacheco and Gimnasia y Esgrima agree another 3 years.
Squad19 Feb 2029
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 dugout19 Feb 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Facundo Ferreyra dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2029
0‑3 to Boca Juniors, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Gimnasia y Esgrima will try again when the window opens; Rosario Central may not be selling by then.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The medical room confirms 52 days on the sidelines for Santiago Roggero, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
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 0‑3 Valentín Acosta left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eduardo Navarro and Gimnasia y Esgrima agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The knee: Mario Moreno out for 29 days
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gimnasia y Esgrima lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gimnasia y Esgrima can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Diego Mondino has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
$440.0K was the most the club would pay and Unión de Santa Fe were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tomás O'Connor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Jan 2029
18 games and 4 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Gimnasia y Esgrima asked and Independiente Rivadavia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market1 Jan 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Diego Mondino has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Gimnasia y Esgrima.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Gimnasia y Esgrima is running low.
The terraces18 Sep 2028
Supporters organise against the Gimnasia y Esgrima board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Tomás Giménez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Ulises Sánchez 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Diego Cerón 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 dugout18 Sep 2028
Tomás O'Connor knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
Esteban Fernández has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima 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
Upbeat
Market18 Sep 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mitre, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Juan Alessandroni has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mitre is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mitre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Santiago Rosales 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 Sep 2028
A 1‑0 win over Defensores Unidos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mitre told Lautaro Carrera something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A mark of 7.42, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Carlos Sosa could afford to be generous.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“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
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mitre, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Tiago Ferreyra has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mitre is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Agustín Ramírez 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mitre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Nahuel Reyes gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nahuel Reyes is on it.
Market11 Sep 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martín Rodríguez signs something — a contract at Mitre or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mitre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Gonzalo Córdoba has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mitre is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Mitre
Ignacio Pietrobono 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Mitre
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Rosales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ignacio Cellerino 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.
Match26 Aug 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ignacio Cellerino’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mitre.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 7.62 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mitre had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Carlos Sosa could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gimnasia y Esgrima people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gimnasia y Esgrima can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Godoy Cruz; Gimnasia y Esgrima go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Ezequiel Muñoz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The deal with Boca Juniors is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Gimnasia y Esgrima training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ulises Sánchez 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Ezequiel Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Gimnasia y Esgrima are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces26 Jun 2028
Supporters organise against the Gimnasia y Esgrima board
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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Ulises Sánchez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Tomás Giménez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Lencioni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market26 Jun 2028
Alvarado are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Gimnasia y Esgrima will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Boca Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Ismael Cortez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima 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
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
The deal with San Martín SJ is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Imanol González has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Franco Saucedo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan move for Nahuel Galardi is in the works
Gimnasia y Esgrima have made the call to Boca Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Matías Muñoz knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicolás Romano is on it.
Loan watch19 Jun 2028
15 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Lautaro Carrera wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Gimnasia y Esgrima have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Sebastián Campos has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Gimnasia y Esgrima can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gimnasia y Esgrima have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Ezequiel Muñoz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Market5 Jun 2028
10 appearances, an average of 6.32, and the patience in the stands is now performative. Every big signing gets a grace period; his ran out two bad afternoons ago.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulises Sánchez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 Jun 2028
Imanol González is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gimnasia y Esgrima has been clear about where Imanol González stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gimnasia y Esgrima know it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lautaro Carrera is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Match3 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Mitre
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Ignacio Pietrobono, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Patronato, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Nahuel González has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mitre is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Alessandroni commits to Mitre for another 2 years.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Mitre
Ignacio Pietrobono 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 ratings5 Jun 2028
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Santiago Rosales 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
Match15 May 2028
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Tomás O'Connor has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
Ulises Sánchez 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 May 2028
Words at Gimnasia y Esgrima training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Lencioni 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 ratings15 May 2028
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout15 May 2028
“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 dugout15 May 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout15 May 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Sebastián Campos could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Mar 2028
A 0‑3 beating by San Lorenzo was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match8 Mar 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Gimnasia y Esgrima scored in the 105th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
A brace, and Facundo Lencioni takes the afternoon — 8.15
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Facundo Lencioni provided it, and the 8.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Ezequiel Muñoz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulises Sánchez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Lautaro Carrera
“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.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Gimnasia y Esgrima
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Matías Muñoz's mistake
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Feb 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gimnasia y Esgrima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match19 Feb 2028
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Tomás Giménez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Gimnasia y Esgrima training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ulises Sánchez 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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Julián Ceballos 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 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes of Facundo Lencioni at his very best
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gimnasia y Esgrima.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Imanol González
“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 dugout21 Feb 2028
Something was said to Matías Muñoz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Unión San Felipe is running low.
Market27 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unión San Felipe, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
The deal with Universidad de Concepcion is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Santiago Mederos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Unión San Felipe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
A loan move for Thiago Yfran is in the works
Unión San Felipe have made the call to Temperley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unión San Felipe, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Santiago Mederos 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Lautaro Carrera falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
Universidad de Chile have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaider Benítez, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market20 Dec 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Dec 2027
The offer from Universidad Catolica for Santiago Mederos was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market13 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unión San Felipe, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Agustín Peralta Bauer has just signed for Unión San Felipe, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Everybody at Unión San Felipe saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Norberto Palmieri 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Joaquín Mattalia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
A loan enquiry to Universidad de Chile: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market13 Dec 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Gary Sagal has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Unión San Felipe have done the hard part with Universidad de Chile, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unión San Felipe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
Unión San Felipe have made the call to Talleres. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Alan Chacón is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alan Chacón has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Joel Medina without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joel Medina was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Sergio Riffo gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sergio Riffo is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Unión San Felipe is running low.
Market29 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unión San Felipe can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Santiago Mederos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A move Carlos Angulo would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Carlos Angulo is living that version at Unión San Felipe, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentino Acuña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Leonel Gómez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Kevin Hidalgo 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 Kevin Hidalgo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Lautaro Carrera keeps the shirt for now, at Unión San Felipe's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentino Acuña was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Francisco Prieto and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Kevin Hidalgo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Lautaro Carrera keeps the shirt for now, at Unión San Felipe's convenience rather than his own.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
Santiago Mederos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Joaquín Mattalia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
A promise honoured for Axel León
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Unión San Felipe told Axel León something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2027
Lautaro Carrera 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Norberto Palmieri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Matías Marín is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Tobias Asenzo knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Unión San Felipe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market25 Oct 2027
Unión San Felipe have let the market know Francisco Prieto can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout11 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Nahuel Barboza has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gimnasia y Esgrima is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentino Simoni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Benjamín Borruel 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Nicolás Ferreyra is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Talleres in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gimnasia y Esgrima know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market11 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Matías Muñoz may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Pressure builds in the Unión San Felipe boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market4 Oct 2027
Kevin Serrano 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 Unión San Felipe can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Tobias Asenzo: 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.” Unión San Felipe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Marcel Vergara arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Marcel Vergara has, at Unión San Felipe, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Lautaro Carrera falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Francisco Prieto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paolo Dorini, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Leonel Gómez's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unión San Felipe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Unión San Felipe may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Santiago Mederos 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
Matías Marín is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Axl Ríos knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Unión San Felipe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Sep 2027
Position 9 on 39 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Santiago Mederos 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Unión San Felipe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Carrera 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 2027
150% of the income goes out in wages at Unión San Felipe
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 dugout20 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match18 Sep 2027
0‑1 to Magallanes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Joaquín Mattalia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gary Sagal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unión San Felipe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Lautaro Carrera 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad13 Sep 2027
9 new faces, and Unión San Felipe 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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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 0‑2 Gary Sagal left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Unión San Felipe, and it is a cruel one.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Axel Roldán beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Carrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Norberto Palmieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Joshua Romero
“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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Emmanuel Torres is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad6 Sep 2027
No place for Jaider Benítez in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Unión San Felipe are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Looking ahead6 Sep 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Deportes Copiapó in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Tobias Asenzo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unión San Felipe, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Emmanuel Torres and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Lautaro Carrera 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Curicó Unido. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match28 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ángel Ruiz Varvaro. 1‑0 against Curicó Unido, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Marked 7.62. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Gary Sagal kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Joaquín Mattalia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Unión San Felipe will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Pereira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Unión San Felipe's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Unión San Felipe has to find a result from somewhere.
Match21 Aug 2027
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Unión San Felipe can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Santiago Mederos 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 Aug 2027
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
156% of the income goes out in wages at Unión San Felipe
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.
Match21 Aug 2027
0‑1 to Deportes Temuco, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Facundo Barreto 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gary Sagal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.