Marked for Gregorio Blanco
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
Brandon Wilson damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Alfeandra Dewangga 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
PSM made Bali United work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Bali United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mirza Mustafić 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 ratings24 Apr 2028
Marked 7.63 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Bali United had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fachri Asnawi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 Thijmen Goppel is on it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
No place for Shlomo Ayelin in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Bali United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Rizqi Abhirama
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pedro Ramírez
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Apr 2028
19 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Pablo Monje has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
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 Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Apr 2028
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match8 Apr 2028
A 1‑0 win over Almagro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Deportivo Riestra, and 9 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Marked 7.45. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Juan Rey on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pedro Ramírez
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Gabriel Obredor 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.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Deportivo Riestra, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Sayavedra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Matías Cortave
“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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Leandro Lucero 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 Leandro Lucero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against San Miguel in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market27 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Riestra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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 Rodrigo Sayavedra is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Mar 2028
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match18 Mar 2028
Gregorio Blanco had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Persib were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
A brace, and Gregorio Blanco takes the afternoon — 8.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gregorio Blanco provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad20 Mar 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Adam Przybek
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Przybek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bali United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Jort van der Sande 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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Bali United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bali United told Gregorio Blanco something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Mar 2028
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Lam and Bali United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Diego Campos 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.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Yabes Roni has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Bali United is pretending otherwise.
Match4 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Bhayangkara Presisi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Gregorio Blanco
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout6 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fachri Asnawi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Thijmen Goppel'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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match26 Feb 2028
Boris Kopitović wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Boris Kopitović found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Maluku Utara United went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Jort van der Sande 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.
Match26 Feb 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Boris Kopitović’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bali United.
The terraces28 Feb 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gregorio Blanco 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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 ratings28 Feb 2028
Marked 7.64. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fachri Asnawi on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Thijmen Goppel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Brandon Wilson
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bali United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Persebaya, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market21 Feb 2028
Adam Przybek has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bali United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match19 Feb 2028
The goals have deserted Bali United
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bali United can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rizky Dwi Febrianto, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Bali United 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Fachri Asnawi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Rizqi Abhirama and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Brandon Wilson damages knee ligaments — 116 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
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 Bali United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Jort van der Sande 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Madura United have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Jan 2028
Business is business: Maouri Simon goes
Arema paid $77.0K and Bali United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market31 Jan 2028
The name of Adam Przybek has come up in conversations Bali United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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 targets31 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Union Magdalena: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout31 Jan 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
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dimas Kurniawan
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bali United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market24 Jan 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Jort van der Sande 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Bali United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Union Magdalena: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Market24 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Thomas Lam’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Dimas Kurniawan damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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 given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bali United have done the hard part with Deportivo Riestra, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Diego Campos 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.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Persijap have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Mirza Mustafić 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 dugout17 Jan 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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Something was said to Jens Raven 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
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Jan 2028
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bali United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market10 Jan 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kadek Arel had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market10 Jan 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.
Squad10 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 Bali United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bali United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Madura United have kept their man, and Bali United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
A loan move for Jeycob Zabaleta is in the works
Bali United have made the call to Union Magdalena. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Deportivo Riestra 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
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer from Omonia 29M for Gregorio Blanco 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.
Market10 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 Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Ignacio Arce has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
Market10 Jan 2028
Business is business: Martín Yapura goes
Villa Dálmine paid $2.0M and Deportivo Riestra took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The deal with Boston River 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Samuel Portillo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
$22.0K on the table at Dock Sud. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Gabriel Obredor 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
Pedro Ramírez damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Match27 Dec 2027
Position 14, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market27 Dec 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 Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
Everything agreed with San Telmo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market27 Dec 2027
The offer from Union La Calera for Rodrigo Gallo 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Dante Azaldegui has left for Sacachispas in a $340.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Ángel Stringa has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
Pedro Ramírez damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Market20 Dec 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 Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Dec 2027
The offer from Libertad for Fabricio Ventresca 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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Pablo Monje has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Obredor 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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bragantino have kept their man, and Deportivo Riestra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Gregorio Blanco 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 dugout20 Dec 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Riestra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match29 Nov 2027
Position 14, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market29 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 Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Ángel Stringa has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Gabriel Obredor 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 Nov 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 Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Persis to sit and watch. I want to come back to Deportivo Riestra and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
Market29 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Riestra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Riestra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 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 Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Pablo Monje has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Gabriel Obredor 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Ignacio Arce 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leandro Lucero, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Deportivo Riestra told Emilio Figueredo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Market22 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexander Díaz signs something — a contract at Deportivo Riestra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gregorio Blanco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Pedro Ramírez damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Ignacio Arce has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending otherwise.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Obredor 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.
Squad15 Nov 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 Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Deportivo Riestra told Lautaro García something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Riestra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market15 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“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 Riestra, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 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 Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ignacio Arce 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gregorio Blanco, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Pedro Ramírez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Riestra needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Riestra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 Antony Alonso has written the date down.
Market11 Oct 2027
Deportivo Riestra have let the market know Pedro Ramírez can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Ángel Almada 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 Ángel Almada trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Jonatan Goitía wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Deportivo Riestra have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Oct 2027
Nicolás Benegas had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Gimnasia y Esgrima were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Arce and Deportivo Riestra agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 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 Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Thiago Lauro ran the middle of the pitch — 6.87
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match2 Oct 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market4 Oct 2027
Nothing to show for Jorge Luque's season away
3 appearances, 1 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Deportivo Riestra will have this month.
Market4 Oct 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 3 games and 1 goals later he is back at Deportivo Riestra no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Deportivo Riestra's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Deportivo Riestra has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Aug 2027
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Deportivo Riestra can tell you which week it ends in.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Deportivo Riestra, and 6 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
Match7 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Gregorio Blanco
“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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Deportivo Riestra can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Lautaro Toledo Pacheco 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.