“The easiest signature of my career.” Gonzalo Trindade and Nueva Chicago agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Valentino Pereyra on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Franco Rey, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nueva Chicago is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Sinisterra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Valentino Pereyra after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Gonzalo Trindade is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Facundo Castro has his answer from Nueva Chicago; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Sebastián Cocimano is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Sinisterra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nueva Chicago is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Nueva Chicago go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Sinisterra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Nobody at Nueva Chicago 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Braian Toloza wants continental football; whether Nueva Chicago can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Words at Nueva Chicago training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Sinisterra is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nueva Chicago know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Two goals and a mark of 9.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.98 beside his name.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Nueva Chicago and Defensores, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sebastián Cocimano. 4‑2 against Defensores, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Nueva Chicago go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julián Sardinas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Gimnasia y Esgrima scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
In brief
Boardroom101% of the income goes out in wages at Nueva Chicago
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nueva Chicago is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Words at Nueva Chicago training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Ávalos 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Central Norte had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Nobody at Nueva Chicago 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentino Pereyra after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
Player ratingsBrandon Ríos beats them one at a time
Marked 8.08 — 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentino Pereyra after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nueva Chicago they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Nueva Chicago, and it is not being withdrawn.
Enzo Ávalos 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.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Enzo Ávalos is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Nueva Chicago will try very hard not to make too much of it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Iván Antunes is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Nueva Chicago will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Facundo Castro provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Nueva Chicago, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Ávalos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Sebastián Cocimano 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.
A 2‑1 win over Chacarita Juniors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julián Sardinas provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Independiente have kept their man, and Nueva Chicago go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
9.03. 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.
“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 Nueva Chicago, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Platense have kept their man, and Nueva Chicago go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Defensores Unidos were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Enzo Ávalos did not need any: 8.15, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Rosario Central have accepted the money. What Nueva Chicago do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Enzo Ávalos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Ávalos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dylan Gissi 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gael Flores, and the manager let it.
Squad20 May 2030
Enzo Ávalos 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Almirante Brown? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nueva Chicago is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nueva Chicago this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Enzo Ávalos 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.
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 dugout1 Apr 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Valentino Pereyra left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Gonzalo Trindade is on it.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Jacques Jean Pondi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Mar 2030
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Nueva Chicago. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Ávalos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
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.” Valentino Pereyra kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.