Marked for Sergi Oriol
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
FC Augsburg have made their interest known and Wanderers have to have a conversation they never wanted. A manager other clubs ask about is a manager whose next contract costs more.
Market8 Feb 2027
Rodrigo Novo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Wanderers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Joaquín Rivero would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Joaquín Rivero is living that version at Wanderers, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Alberti 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Darío Pereira and Wanderers agree another 2 years.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Mathías Bogado
“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.
Market8 Feb 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Wanderers signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
José Alberti knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wanderers, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
José Alberti 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 Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Wanderers will try again when the window opens; Racing may not be selling by then.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Formiliano 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alfredo Trejo commits to Wanderers for another 2 years.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Joaquín Zeballos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Wanderers say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
When it matters, Sergi Oriol plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Wanderers will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Talleres is saying, and nobody at Wanderers is enjoying the guessing.
Squad14 Dec 2026
José Alberti 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 Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Wanderers asked and Deportivo Riestra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Alan García 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Huracán 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Banfield 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Facundo Labandeira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Joaquín Zeballos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Wanderers say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Sergi Oriol gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sergi Oriol is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wanderers may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Jonathan Urretaviscaya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Wanderers
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Alberti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Mathías Bogado 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 Mathías Bogado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Joaquín Zeballos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Wanderers say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
When it matters, Sergi Oriol plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Wanderers can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
José Alberti 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 Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Wanderers
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabricio Formiliano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Market19 Oct 2026
The name of Joaquín Zeballos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Wanderers say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Sergi Oriol has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Wanderers 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A new face in his position, and Jonathan Urretaviscaya suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Wanderers have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mathías Bogado has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jonathan Urretaviscaya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Wanderers
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market21 Sep 2026
The name of Joaquín Zeballos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Wanderers say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
When it matters, Sergi Oriol plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Joaquín Zeballos has written the date down.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Roque Ricca knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wanderers, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
Wanderers march on in the cup
Uruguay Montevideo are out and Wanderers go through, 4‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.36, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.72 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad17 Aug 2026
José Alberti 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 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Wanderers and Uruguay Montevideo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout17 Aug 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Sergi Oriol at his very best
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Squad
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
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Squad
Roque Ricca wants out of the dugout