Marked for Benjamín Portillo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 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.
Match17 Jun 2028
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Laferrere may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Cantero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Laferrere the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Jeremías Denis 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Carrasco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Villa Dálmine have kept their man, and Deportivo Laferrere go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeremías Denis, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Apr 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Carrasco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Laferrere the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Fernando Corica has agreed terms with Brown de Adrogué for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Apr 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 Deportivo Laferrere this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Faillace 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportivo Laferrere, another week without a signature from Gabriel Carrasco.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Jeremías Denis 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 Jeremías Denis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benjamín Portillo, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
At 20 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Looking ahead10 Apr 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Alvarado in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
Emmanuel Trejo damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Market17 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 Deportivo Laferrere can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Laferrere have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Jan 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Deportivo Laferrere they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Jan 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 Deportivo Laferrere this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Natanael Hernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 Jan 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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Agustín Faillace has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportivo Laferrere 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Laferrere know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Laferrere lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Up for the corner, and Mariano Santiago delivers — 7.96
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mariano Santiago scored, was marked 7.96, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match6 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Jeremías Denis 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 ratings8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Román Digion 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
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Lucas Russo: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 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 Deportivo Laferrere can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Emmanuel Trejo 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Diego Solís 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Ferrocarril Midland. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eloy Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
Match16 Oct 2027
A 1‑0 win over Ferrocarril Midland, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Mariano Santiago was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
100% of the income goes out in wages at Deportivo Laferrere
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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Something was said to Eloy Rodríguez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Emmanuel Trejo 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Eloy Rodríguez 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 Deportivo Laferrere, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
Román Digion is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Deportivo Laferrere has been clear about where Román Digion stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Benjamín Portillo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 Agustín Faillace is on it.
Market11 Oct 2027
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Deportivo Laferrere money.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Lucas Rebecchi
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Deportivo Laferrere would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Deportivo Laferrere did not have in the autumn.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Diego Solís and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Market13 Sep 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Rodrigo Mazur has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Deportivo Laferrere.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Half-satisfied: Lucas Russo on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Barraza, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer from St. Pölten for Lucas Rebecchi 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Trejo 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 ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Lautaro Barraza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio Ocampo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Lucas Russo chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Rodrigo Mazur 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.
The dugout16 Aug 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
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
1 for Mariano Santiago, marked 7.65, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match26 Jun 2027
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Brown de Adrogué. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Trejo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Sergio Ocampo 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Deportivo Laferrere
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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lucas Russo on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Jun 2027
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Deportivo Laferrere are no longer polite ones.
Market21 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Deportivo Laferrere did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Deportivo Laferrere have done the hard part with Banfield, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Martín de Burzaco have kept their man, and Deportivo Laferrere go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 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 Deportivo Laferrere this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergio Ocampo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jun 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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Something was said to Diego Solís and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lucas Russo after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Laferrere lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad17 May 2027
46 days out for Nicolás Vivas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Laferrere will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Laferrere may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 May 2027
Emmanuel Trejo 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.
Match15 May 2027
0‑1 to Ferrocarril Midland, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 May 2027
Sergio Ocampo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 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 ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout17 May 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rodrigo Mazur
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Laferrere lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
Nicolás Vivas breaks a bone — 53 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evaristo Dieguiz, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Ocampo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout10 May 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.” Lucas Russo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout10 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Deportivo Laferrere told Matías Digangi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Laferrere lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nicolás Vivas breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Rodrigo Biondi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Laferrere have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Sergio Ocampo 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Benjamín Portillo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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 Agustín Faillace is on it.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Real Pilar next, and one man in the Deportivo Laferrere dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Laferrere know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rodrigo Mazur
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Laferrere lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Mar 2027
110 days out for Nicolás Vivas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Laferrere will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Laferrere have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Trejo 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Mar 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 Deportivo Laferrere this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Fernando Corica
“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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Deportivo Laferrere dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Mar 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 Lucas Russo to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
The knee: Rodrigo Mazur out for 147 days
147 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Laferrere lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Feb 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 Deportivo Laferrere, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Trejo 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 Feb 2027
Sergio Ocampo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Deportivo Laferrere than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rodrigo Mazur
162 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Laferrere lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Trejo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout18 Jan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Franco Romero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Benjamín Portillo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Deportivo Laferrere will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Deportivo Laferrere have done the hard part with Gimnasia La Plata, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Emmanuel Trejo 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mauro Orué and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Almirante Brown 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“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 Nov 2026
Words at Deportivo Laferrere training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Trejo 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
Diego Solís 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fernando Corica, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Benjamín Portillo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nicolás Vivas 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 Nicolás Vivas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Nov 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 Santiago D'abarno has written the date down.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Next up at home: Deportivo Merlo, who go into it in position 16. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.