Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zago Zegarra 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Villa San Carlos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Villa San Carlos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Villa San Carlos has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is not rotation. Alex Servián has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Villa San Carlos is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Bruno Mariani 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Mateo Cáceres 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Bruno Mariani 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alex Servián signs something — a contract at Villa San Carlos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Mezőkövesd did not take him to make up a number: they want him playing. For Tomás Amado that is worth more than another season of watching from Villa San Carlos's bench, and everyone involved has said so out loud.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Villa San Carlos the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Villa San Carlos is running low.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mateo Cáceres 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zago Zegarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Agustín Cañete is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Tomás Amado decided nobody was going anywhere. Almirante Brown had no time left to answer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Villa San Carlos can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Villa San Carlos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Zago Zegarra 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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Amado 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Villa San Carlos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
10 seasons and 163 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gerónimo Rodríguez and Villa San Carlos agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Zago Zegarra 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Villa San Carlos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Villa San Carlos can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alex Servián reports back to Villa San Carlos with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Tomás Akimenco 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Mariani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Leonardo Zabala to Fénix has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Villa San Carlos with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Mariani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vélez have kept their man, and Villa San Carlos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Villa San Carlos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Rosario Central, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Mateo Cáceres 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Central Córdoba SdE have kept their man, and Villa San Carlos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Leonardo Zabala has come up in conversations Villa San Carlos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pavía 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.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Villa San Carlos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mateo Cáceres 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.
Day 9 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Ojeda 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Villa San Carlos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Villa San Carlos can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Villa San Carlos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Rosario Central 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.
Tomás Akimenco 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Villa San Carlos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Villa San Carlos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Villa San Carlos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Argentinos Juniors is saying, and nobody at Villa San Carlos is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Mariani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Villa San Carlos asked and Lanús said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every Villa San Carlos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Eibar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Villa San Carlos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Villa San Carlos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Kevin Pavía 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Hornos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Villa San Carlos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Tomás Hornos has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Comunicaciones will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Cristian Vázquez has pre-agreed a move to Villa San Carlos, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Bruno Dordoni 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Zabala and Villa San Carlos agree another 4 years.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Villa San Carlos has been clear about where Sabino González stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alex Servián trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Villa San Carlos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Mariani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kevin Pavía
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Villa San Carlos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Villa San Carlos is running low.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Eibar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Villa San Carlos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Villa San Carlos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Villa San Carlos is running low.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Tomás Akimenco 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Dordoni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
32 appearances and 7 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Pavía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Luca Martino and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Semen Padang is running low.
Ravy Tsouka 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kianz Froese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Armando Oropa is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Cristian Núñez 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.
Day 14 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Farías 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Villa San Carlos know which stage they are at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Villa San Carlos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 36 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Douglas Owusu did not need any: 8.19, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kazaki Nakagawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Servián 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.
A 2‑0 win over Madura United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Semen Padang pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Maurício and Semen Padang agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kianz Froese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Dewa United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout4 Oct 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 0‑1 Ahmad Riyadi left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 94% of everything Semen Padang earn
MarketA year in the wrong dressing room for Rendy Oscario
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kianz Froese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kakang Rudianto 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.
12 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 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Cristian Núñez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Farías 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 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 Villa San Carlos can pretend not to have heard.
Cristian Núñez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Farías 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.
Minute 89, against Deportivo Laferrere, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It needed Zago Zegarra to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Deportivo Laferrere, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“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.
28 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Villa San Carlos has to find a result from somewhere.
“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 Villa San Carlos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Cristian Núñez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Farías was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Joaquín Rojas to a room that had heard them before.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Semen Padang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $6.8K — a club that wants Abduh Lestaluhu enough to be asked twice.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Montevideo City Torque is saying, and nobody at Semen Padang is enjoying the guessing.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Fe have kept their man, and Semen Padang go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 22 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Semen Padang, and it is not being withdrawn.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Semen Padang can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ADO Den Haag have kept their man, and Semen Padang go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Semen Padang they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 11 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Farías was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Semen Padang will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
“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 Semen Padang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asyraq Gufron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alex Servián did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Semen Padang, and it is not being withdrawn.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Kazaki Nakagawa 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asyraq Gufron 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.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Villa San Carlos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Villa San Carlos can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” José Luis López after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
59 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Semen Padang they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kianz Froese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Asyraq Gufron 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Semen Padang told Alex Servián something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Semen Padang has been clear about where Achmad Iqbal Bachtiar stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bhayangkara Presisi next, and one man in the Semen Padang dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Villa San Carlos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Villa San Carlos has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pavía 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Villa San Carlos can tell you which week it ends in.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” José Luis López after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Villa San Carlos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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; Semen Padang are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Fareed Sadat 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Kianz Froese was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
The dugout15 Mar 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.” Ahmad Riyadi kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.50 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Kazaki Nakagawa 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alex Servián. 3‑1 against Persita, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Servián 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 Ângelo Meneses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Kianz Froese 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.
Semen Padang asked and Maccabi Tel Aviv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Bambang Supriadi and Semen Padang agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Ahmad Riyadi on the draw
128 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Semen Padang lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Semen Padang have done the hard part with Villa San Carlos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensores have kept their man, and Semen Padang go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Semen Padang will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Jonathan Farías 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 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.
6 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.
Nobody at Villa San Carlos 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.
In brief
The dugoutFranco Ojeda knocks on the manager’s door
Persib arrived with $1.1M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Semen Padang people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Arthur Augusto has gone, the accounts have $1.1M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Everything agreed with Bhayangkara Presisi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ravy Tsouka 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.
Semen Padang asked and Persijap said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Rosyad Setiawan 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.
Villa San Carlos 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Villa San Carlos 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 Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Pavía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alex Servián trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Villa San Carlos have done the hard part with Platense, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Jonathan Farías 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Villagra and Villa San Carlos agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Pavía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Villa San Carlos has been clear about where Luciano Machín stands, which is more than many ever get.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Fénix had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Villa San Carlos did not stop to explain themselves.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Villa San Carlos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Villa San Carlos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Farías was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jonathan Farías. 1‑0 against Fénix, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.