Brandon Ríos

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Nueva Chicago
15 Feb 2032
Sunday
Process

Marked for Brandon Ríos

289 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

9 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

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Squad

Gonzalo Trindade stays put

“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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gonzalo Trindade

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Trindade, and the manager let it.

Match

Nueva Chicago find a way past San Telmo

San Telmo made Nueva Chicago work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Appearance number 100 for Agustín Moreno

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.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Julián Sardinas

7.88, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Nueva Chicago had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra has his say

“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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Gonzalo Trindade

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.

Squad

A first senior shirt for Franco Rey

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.

In brief

Back issues
269 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

22 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sebastián Cocimano

27 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Nueva Chicago finish in position 11

41 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Market

Gabriel Sinisterra 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 Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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The dugout

Zorro says Nueva Chicago went back on their word

“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.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Nueva Chicago

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Iván Antunes

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Antunes, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 104% of the Nueva Chicago income

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.

Match

Nueva Chicago and Mitre take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

268 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

15 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Sebastián Cocimano is on his way

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.

Match

Julián Sardinas’s goal not enough for Nueva Chicago

Julián Sardinas scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Almirante Brown, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

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The dugout

Vicente Maximiliano 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Squad

Daniel Pérez out for 23 days

The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Daniel Pérez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra faces the questions

“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.

The dugout

Gonzalo Trindade 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 Gonzalo Trindade is on it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Brandon Ríos

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

266 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

1 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Carlos Montero 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 Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.

Match

The wait goes on for Nueva Chicago

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.

Squad

Sebastián Cocimano is carrying Nueva Chicago

24 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

The dugout

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Squad

200 appearances for Sebastián Cocimano

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Market

No place for Facundo Castro in the plan

“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.

Squad

Nueva Chicago lose Daniel Escobar

15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Sebastián Cocimano 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 Sebastián Cocimano is on it.

In brief

265 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

25 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

6 matches without a win for Nueva Chicago

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Nueva Chicago are no longer polite ones.

The dugout

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The dugout

Wilmar Sanchez keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nueva Chicago may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Matías Lombardi 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 Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 105% of the Nueva Chicago income

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.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Boardroom

Nueva Chicago counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Nueva Chicago now.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra: “We have to be better”

“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.

In brief

263 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

11 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Both of them Sebastián Cocimano's — 8.78

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.78, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Sebastián Cocimano is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.37 with 23 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Bautista Bruno 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 Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Miguel Ibáñez is on his way

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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Nueva Chicago

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Nueva Chicago are no longer polite ones.

The dugout

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Match

Temperley snatch it back from Nueva Chicago

A goal on 90 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

Match

Nueva Chicago and Temperley take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Brandon Ríos

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

258 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

7 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos was unplayable

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sebastián Cocimano

18 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Transfer targets

Nueva Chicago rebuffed over Iván Miranda

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.

The dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Boardroom

4 new boys at the Nueva Chicago academy

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.

The dugout

Sebastián Cocimano has become a man the manager trusts

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.

Match

Honours even between Nueva Chicago and Chacarita Juniors

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra: “We have to be better”

“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.

In brief

255 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

16 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Nueva Chicago may not be able to give Braian Toloza what he wants

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.

Match

Defensores Unidos take the points off Nueva Chicago

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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The dugout

Valentino Pereyra: “No excuses”

“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.

Squad

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Gonzalo Trindade plays

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 ratings

Brandon Ríos 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.

The dugout

Vilgelm Berg 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.

Market

The Gonzalo Trindade talk will not go away

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.

In brief

254 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

9 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Sebastián Cocimano scores twice — 9.55

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.

The dugout

Gabriel Sinisterra says Nueva Chicago went back on their word

“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.

Market

Benjamín Herrera asks to leave Nueva Chicago

“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 ratings

Julián Sardinas beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

A goal and an assist for Brandon Ríos — 7.98

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sebastián Cocimano

15 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

6 goals as Nueva Chicago and Defensores go for it

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.

Match

Sebastián Cocimano the difference as Nueva Chicago beat Defensores

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.

Transfer targets

Nueva Chicago rebuffed over Iván Miranda

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.

In brief

249 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

5 May 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Nueva Chicago

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.

Player ratings

Enzo Ávalos runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

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The dugout

Carlos Montero says Nueva Chicago went back on their word

“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.

Market

Benjamín Herrera 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 Nueva Chicago can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Iván Antunes signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iván Antunes commits to Nueva Chicago for another 2 years.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Nueva Chicago

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Match

Nueva Chicago caught on 86 minutes

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

244 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

31 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Cocimano is on his way

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.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Nueva Chicago

The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

The dugout

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Squad

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.

Player ratings

Sebastián Cocimano in the eights

A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Nueva Chicago rescue it on 91 minutes

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.

The dugout

Sebastián Cocimano has become a man the manager trusts

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.

Match

Honours even between Nueva Chicago and Central Norte

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra on the point

“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

242 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

17 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Brandon Ríos

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

6 unbeaten for Nueva Chicago

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Nueva Chicago did not have in the autumn.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Julián Sardinas

“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 dugout

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Player ratings

A masterclass from Sebastián Cocimano

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Gonzalo Trindade plays

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.

Match

Nueva Chicago and Morón take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Valentino Pereyra on the point

“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.

Squad

Young player of the week: Miguel Ángel Álvarez

At 18 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.

In brief

240 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

3 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Cocimano has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

Matías Lombardi puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Facundo Castro signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Facundo Castro commits to Nueva Chicago for another 2 years.

The dugout

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Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Gonzalo Trindade

A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Iván Antunes named in the team of the month

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Sebastián Cocimano plays

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.

In brief

217 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

159 days out for Alan Ruiz after a fracture

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.

Match

Nueva Chicago finish in position 9

53 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Player ratings

A brace, and Facundo Castro takes the afternoon — 8.93

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.

Market

Enzo Ávalos puts it in writing

“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.

The dugout

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Boardroom

Nueva Chicago counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Nueva Chicago now.

Match

Nueva Chicago find a way past Central Norte

Central Norte made Nueva Chicago work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos runs at them all day

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.

In brief

206 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Sebastián Cocimano scores twice — 9.23

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sebastián Cocimano

22 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos was unplayable

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.

Squad

Alan Ruiz stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alan Ruiz and Nueva Chicago agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Nueva Chicago

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.

Match

6 unbeaten for Nueva Chicago

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Nueva Chicago did not have in the autumn.

Match

Nueva Chicago get the job done against Chacarita Juniors

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.

The dugout

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Boardroom

Intake day at the Nueva Chicago academy

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.

In brief

  • Squad Iván Antunes named in the team of the month
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Gonzalo Trindade has become a man the manager trusts
204 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Julián Sardinas leads the rout of Chaco For Ever

5‑0, and Julián Sardinas took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Nueva Chicago tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Julián Sardinas takes the afternoon — 8.19

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.

Player ratings

Vintage Alan Ruiz — 8.09

At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.09, and nobody on the pitch better.

The dugout

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Market

Jacques Jean Pondi asks to leave Nueva Chicago

“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.

Squad

Sebastián Cocimano is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.34 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Brandon Ríos signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brandon Ríos commits to Nueva Chicago for another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Nueva Chicago rebuffed over Alejandro Rodríguez

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.

Player ratings

Sebastián Cocimano was on a different afternoon to everybody else

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.

In brief

203 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Enzo Ávalos puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Nueva Chicago lose Dylan Gissi

61 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

Miguel Ibáñez keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nueva Chicago may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sebastián Cocimano

17 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Julián Sardinas runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Nueva Chicago rebuffed over Dante Capriati

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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Brandon Ríos

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.

Match

The drought breaks for Nueva Chicago

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.

In brief

202 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Enzo Ávalos at 21 — 8.15

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.

Transfer targets

$250.0K settles it between the clubs for Ezequiel Zapata

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Nueva Chicago

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.

The dugout

Daniel Pérez says Nueva Chicago went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Sebastián Cocimano is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.25 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The terraces

Nueva Chicago supporters have found a favourite in Enzo Ávalos

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.

The dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

In brief

199 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Enzo Ávalos asks to leave Nueva Chicago

“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.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Nueva Chicago

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gael Flores

“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.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Valentino Pereyra on the draw

“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.

Match

Point won or two lost for Nueva Chicago?

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 dugout

Gael Flores left out for tactical reasons at Nueva Chicago

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.

In brief

192 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

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Market

Julián Sardinas is on his way

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.

Squad

Dylan Gissi 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 Nueva Chicago this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Talleres take the points off Nueva Chicago

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

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.

The dugout

Sebastián Cocimano is still paying for one afternoon at Nueva Chicago

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 dugout

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.

Player ratings

Sebastián Cocimano gives it away

There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Nueva Chicago lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.

The dugout

Gonzalo Trindade 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 Gonzalo Trindade is on it.

In brief

190 Edition

The Nueva Chicago Sentinel

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Brandon Ríos runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Nueva Chicago

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Nueva Chicago

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.

Match

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.

Match

Nueva Chicago get the job done against Morón

A 1‑0 win over Morón, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Braian Toloza

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Nueva Chicago

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.

Squad

Brandon Ríos makes it 100

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 dugout

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.

In brief