Marked for Facundo Villarreal
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market25 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces25 Sep 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nahuel Verón 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.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Marked 8.56 — 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Lucas Barrientos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Thiago Cicerone
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
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.
Match23 Sep 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Sep 2028
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Alvarado spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Market18 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Julián Rodríguez Vuotto scored, was marked 7.87, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match16 Sep 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Julián Rodríguez Vuotto. 2‑1 against Alvarado, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces18 Sep 2028
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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Barrientos 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Barrientos, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Sep 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Julián Navas 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 terraces11 Sep 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thiago Cicerone 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Asenjo
“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.
Match9 Sep 2028
Madryn made Los Andes work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Barrientos 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 ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Defensive actions: 12, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Villarreal will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match26 Aug 2028
1‑3 to Quilmes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Carrasco 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Aug 2028
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Axel Páez had Los Andes level again within 4 minutes, and Quilmes never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
3 matches without a goal for Los Andes
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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Axel Páez
“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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Barrientos 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 ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Marked 7.36. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Atlanta came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces7 Aug 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Aug 2028
Benjamín Garay has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Los Andes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Aug 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
103% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Franco Rodríguez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market31 Jul 2028
Los Andes say no — this time
The offer from Sharjah for Tomás Benardoni was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Asenjo
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
0‑1 to Patronato, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Axel Páez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Axel Páez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Marked 8.41. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Los Andes.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Lucas Barrientos 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Nasaf will make the call about Tomás Benardoni this week. Los Andes have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match22 Jul 2028
It needed Facundo Villarreal to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Racing, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thiago Cicerone, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Javier Bustillos asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Jul 2028
2 behind and going nowhere, until Facundo Villarreal decided otherwise. Maipú had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Match15 Jul 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Facundo Villarreal. 3‑2 against Maipú, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces17 Jul 2028
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.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Carrasco 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 ratings17 Jul 2028
Marked 8.17 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces10 Jul 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market10 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match8 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Match8 Jul 2028
Los Andes cannot find the net
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Julián Rodríguez Vuotto 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.
Match8 Jul 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
91% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Barrientos 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 ratings3 Jul 2028
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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Los Andes 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.
Match1 Jul 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Arsenal defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Los Andes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The terraces3 Jul 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jun 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Julián Navas 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 Jun 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Jun 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
5.46. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Market19 Jun 2028
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Los Andes could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Los Andes sell a favourite for $1.3M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Marko Brey was one of the reasons people came, and $1.3M does not replace that by itself.
Market12 Jun 2028
Business is business: Marko Brey goes
Hajduk Split paid $1.3M and Los Andes took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match10 Jun 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Facundo Villarreal. 2‑1 against San Miguel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Facundo Villarreal 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Benjamín Garay again, and this time the name on the line is Patronato. Los Andes are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Julián Rodríguez Vuotto was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Lucas Barrientos 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Manuel Vázquez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Manuel Vázquez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauricio Asenjo, and the manager let it.
Match27 May 2028
0‑1 to Tristán Suárez, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad29 May 2028
Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Javier Bustillos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 May 2028
A 2‑1 win over Alvarado, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces22 May 2028
The crowd has taken to Marko Brey
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.
Squad22 May 2028
Francisco Funes 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 ratings22 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings15 May 2028
A brace, and Mauricio Asenjo takes the afternoon — 8.25
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mauricio Asenjo provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad15 May 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces15 May 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Facundo Villarreal 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.
Match13 May 2028
Three points for Los Andes, 2‑0 the final word against Madryn in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad15 May 2028
Gabriel Carrasco 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.
Squad15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nazareno Fernández Colombo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 May 2028
93% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad15 May 2028
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 ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Manuel Vázquez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match29 Apr 2028
6 matches without a win for Los Andes
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Los Andes are no longer polite ones.
Market1 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 May 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Funes 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Manuel Vázquez, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
Nobody at Los Andes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Benjamín Garay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Garay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Navas, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Francisco Funes 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
A 2‑2 draw with Colegiales leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Javier Bustillos asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces10 Apr 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Los Andes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Juan Manuel Vázquez has agreed terms with Banfield for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Juan Manuel Vázquez 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Lucas Barrientos 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 ratings3 Apr 2028
A masterclass from Axel Páez
Marked 8.02 — 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Barrientos, and the manager let it.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Apr 2028
No place for Luca Nupieri in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luca Nupieri has his answer from Los Andes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match1 Apr 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Facundo Villarreal’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Los Andes.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Marked 8.93. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Los Andes.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Francisco Funes 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad27 Mar 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match11 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
The goals have deserted Los Andes
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Los Andes can tell you which week it ends in.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Carrasco 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 ratings13 Mar 2028
Marked 7.34 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Los Andes had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Los Andes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Match4 Mar 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Funes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Juan Manuel Vázquez 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Funes, and the manager let it.
The terraces6 Mar 2028
Everybody has an opinion about Mauricio Asenjo
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
117% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Gabriel Carrasco 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 ratings21 Feb 2028
A mark of 7.51, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Javier Bustillos dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match19 Feb 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A one-man rearguard from Marko Brey
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market14 Feb 2028
Benjamín Garay has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Los Andes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match12 Feb 2028
Nobody wants to play Los Andes right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match12 Feb 2028
Los Andes keep winning on the road
4 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match12 Feb 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Mauricio Asenjo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Los Andes.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Francisco Funes 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Marko Brey 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match5 Feb 2028
Los Andes keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Market7 Feb 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Pérez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market7 Feb 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bruno Sosa has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Julián Navas 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Barrientos 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Funes 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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
111% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Nobody at Los Andes 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Andes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The Los Andes board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Los Andes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Julián Navas 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Jan 2028
The name of Facundo Villarreal has come up in conversations Los Andes were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Funes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Verón commits to Los Andes for another 3 years.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Los Andes pull $402.0K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Pressure builds in the Los Andes boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market20 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market20 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Brian Leizza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Gómez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Julián Rodríguez Vuotto's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market13 Dec 2027
Los Andes have made Gabriel Carrasco available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andrés Acosta has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Nobody at Los Andes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
Pressure builds in the Los Andes boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market25 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market25 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Matías Gómez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad25 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mauricio Asenjo and Los Andes agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Gómez 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
100% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match11 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Los Andes
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Matías Gómez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mauricio Asenjo. 2‑1 against San Martín, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.70 — 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Matías González at his very best
Marked 8.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Los Andes.
Match11 Sep 2027
No time for San Martín to settle
The goal that put San Martín ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Los Andes equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The team sheet said everything about Daniel Franco
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Daniel Franco.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Los Andes
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Match28 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten Los Andes
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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Benjamín Garay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Garay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Brian Leizza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Asenjo
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Getting past Javier Bustillos has become the hardest job in the division
10 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Brian Leizza 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten Los Andes
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Matías Gómez 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 ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Valdez Chamorro, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Los Andes
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Los Andes are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Jul 2027
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market19 Jul 2027
A conversation is coming this week. Los Andes will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match17 Jul 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 May 2027
31 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad10 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market10 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 2027
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Mauricio Asenjo
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Jan 2027
Matías Gómez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nobody at Los Andes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Matías Gómez 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Los Andes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brian Leizza 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Gómez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Manuel Vázquez 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Tomás Díaz
“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.