Marked for Thiago López
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Almagro
Gino Barbieri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almagro know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremías Bustos 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Fernándes Pinto, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A wage question at Almagro
Joel Orlando 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Gino Barbieri 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
A conversation is coming this week. Almagro will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mateo Cirigliano 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Facundo De La Vega'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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Thiago López: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Almagro will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
The Tiziano Dornell rumours reach the terraces
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Almagro would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
Market21 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Matías Cortave may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Almagro
Juan Pablo Zozaya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobías Macies 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Fernándes Pinto, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Pablo Zozaya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
Julián Vitale 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 Almagro can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almagro know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Gonzalo Asis 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Tiziano Dornell’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Juan Pablo Zozaya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Asis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Pablo Zozaya, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emiliano González signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Thiago López 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 Thiago López trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Santiago Chamorro has written the date down.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A wage question at Almagro
Sebastián Anchoverri 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Two seats in the directors' box were spoken for, and the name in the notebook was Tiziano Dornell. Nothing has been offered yet.