Marked for Sebastián Dátolo
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at La Luz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at La Luz is running low.
Squad17 Dec 2035
A fracture rules Sebastián Dátolo out for 61 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Dec 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around La Luz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market17 Dec 2035
“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 The request is on a desk at La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Martín Perisotto has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adamu Yazid 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.
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
The La Luz debt reaches $23.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad17 Dec 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Nicolás Forastiero'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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Oct 2035
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 Oct 2035
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Oct 2035
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Oct 2035
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Muñóz 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.
Boardroom15 Oct 2035
95% of the income goes out in wages at La Luz
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 Oct 2035
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
Market17 Sep 2035
“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 Sep 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Home is on Peter's mind
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; La Luz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Federico 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.
Boardroom17 Sep 2035
Wages eat 111% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad17 Sep 2035
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
Squad20 Aug 2035
A fracture rules Alejandro Hales out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Aug 2035
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Aug 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 Aug 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Boardroom20 Aug 2035
Wages eat 123% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad20 Aug 2035
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
Market30 Jul 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jul 2035
A fracture rules Alejandro Hales out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom30 Jul 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at La Luz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at La Luz is running low.
Squad30 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad30 Jul 2035
The manager makes an example of Diego Mercapide
“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.
Boardroom30 Jul 2035
La Luz are $23.8M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The terraces30 Jul 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Jul 2035
A fracture rules Alejandro Hales out for 57 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Jul 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Match21 Jul 2035
0‑1 to Cerro Largo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Home is on Peter's mind
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; La Luz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom23 Jul 2035
Wages eat 115% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings23 Jul 2035
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.
Market23 Jul 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Exequiel Menegón signs something — a contract at La Luz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 May 2035
A fracture rules Diego Mercapide out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Luz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match26 May 2035
3‑0, and Brandon Brocksom took the headlines on an afternoon when everything La Luz tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad28 May 2035
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad28 May 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 ratings28 May 2035
Marked 9.18 — 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.
Squad28 May 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Boardroom28 May 2035
Wages eat 123% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings28 May 2035
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 May 2035
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 May 2035
La Luz are in real trouble now
Position 13, 11 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.
Market7 May 2035
“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.
Squad7 May 2035
“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.
Match5 May 2035
4 matches without a win for La Luz
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around La Luz are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 May 2035
Martín Busto 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 La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 May 2035
The owner puts $182.9K into La Luz
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad7 May 2035
Adamu Yazid 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 May 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adamu Yazid, and the manager let it.
Match5 May 2035
A bad afternoon for La Luz against Cerrito
0‑1 to Cerrito, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Apr 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Mercapide will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around La Luz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market23 Apr 2035
“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.
Squad23 Apr 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Cohen 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.
Squad23 Apr 2035
“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.
Boardroom23 Apr 2035
La Luz cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
7.82, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. La Luz had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Mathías Pintos 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Apr 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 Apr 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Squad16 Apr 2035
The manager makes an example of Derlis Aguilera
“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.
Match14 Apr 2035
A bad afternoon for La Luz against Artigas
0‑1 to Artigas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings16 Apr 2035
Sebastián Dátolo did the work nobody counts — 6.47
9 combined actions and 6.47. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Market16 Apr 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at La Luz, another week without a signature from Adamu Yazid.
Squad16 Apr 2035
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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2035
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
Uneasy
Match14 Mar 2035
The cup run ends for La Luz
1‑2 against Danubio, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match17 Mar 2035
Brandon Brocksom had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Central Espanol were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings19 Mar 2035
Two goals and a mark of 8.62 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market19 Mar 2035
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Martín Busto 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 Mar 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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 Mar 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Forastiero, and the manager let it.
Match17 Mar 2035
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad19 Mar 2035
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
Crisis
Squad19 Feb 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” La Luz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Match17 Feb 2035
3 matches without a goal for La Luz
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.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Lucas Cohen 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.
Match17 Feb 2035
0‑1 to Deportivo Maldonado, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Feb 2035
“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
Crisis
Market5 Feb 2035
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
$90.2K of the owner's money at La Luz
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Facundo Muñóz 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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
Wages eat 111% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Feb 2035
The manager makes an example of Peter
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2035
La Luz will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Market5 Feb 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Exequiel Menegón signs something — a contract at La Luz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market5 Feb 2035
La Luz and Yahir Daer are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Jan 2035
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Lucas Cohen 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.
Boardroom1 Jan 2035
No signings allowed at La Luz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Market1 Jan 2035
Cerrito are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. La Luz will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market1 Jan 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Nov 2034
Pressure builds in the La Luz boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market27 Nov 2034
Diego Blanco has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around La Luz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Nov 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2034
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Dátolo 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.
Squad27 Nov 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yahir Daer, and the manager let it.
Market27 Nov 2034
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs La Luz money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market6 Nov 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Nov 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at La Luz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Martín Busto 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.
Boardroom6 Nov 2034
$55.1K of the owner's money at La Luz
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Boardroom6 Nov 2034
No signings allowed at La Luz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Sebastián Dátolo 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.
Squad6 Nov 2034
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.
Squad6 Nov 2034
The manager makes an example of Juan Restrepo
“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.
Market6 Nov 2034
Luis Morán runs his contract down
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs La Luz money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Aug 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at La Luz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Aug 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 Aug 2034
Sebastián Dátolo 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 Aug 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Martirena, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Aug 2034
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.
Market14 Aug 2034
Still no signature from Luis Morán
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what La Luz could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jul 2034
2‑5 to Atenas, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match22 Jul 2034
6 matches without a win for La Luz
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around La Luz are no longer polite ones.
Squad24 Jul 2034
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Emiliano Aires, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Jul 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Jul 2034
7 goals as La Luz and Atenas go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between La Luz and Atenas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match22 Jul 2034
La Luz are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad24 Jul 2034
The manager makes an example of Mathías Pintos
“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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2034
Wages eat 128% of everything La Luz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad24 Jul 2034
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Dátolo 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
Crisis
Market3 Jul 2034
“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 La Luz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings3 Jul 2034
Up for the corner, and Martín Busto delivers — 7.45
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Martín Busto scored, was marked 7.45, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad3 Jul 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Match1 Jul 2034
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 Jul 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Muñóz, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jul 2034
Sebastián Dátolo 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2034
The La Luz debt reaches $18.9M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Player ratings3 Jul 2034
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Jul 2034
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rafael Ramirez
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. La Luz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 May 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 May 2034
La Luz sink to position 12
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad15 May 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2034
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiliano Aires 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 ratings15 May 2034
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.
Squad15 May 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Dátolo, and the manager let it.
Match13 May 2034
La Luz share the spoils with Fenix
A 2‑2 draw with Fenix leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings15 May 2034
Off the bench and decisive: Fausto Rivero
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. La Luz were going nowhere until he came on.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rafael Ramirez
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. La Luz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 May 2034
Sebastián Dátolo wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Sebastián Dátolo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Cerrito went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market8 May 2034
Diego Blanco hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 May 2034
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martín Busto and La Luz agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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.
Match6 May 2034
It finished 3‑2, and it was Sebastián Dátolo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to La Luz.
Squad8 May 2034
Emiliano Aires 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.
Boardroom8 May 2034
The La Luz debt reaches $17.9M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Player ratings8 May 2034
A mark of 7.46, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2034
Maximiliano Ugarte damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Match15 Apr 2034
Chastening afternoon for La Luz
A 0‑3 beating by Montevideo City Torque was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match15 Apr 2034
6 matches without a win for La Luz
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around La Luz are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 ratings17 Apr 2034
Marked 6.27 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Emiliano Aires 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.
Squad17 Apr 2034
“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.
Boardroom17 Apr 2034
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings17 Apr 2034
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Squad27 Mar 2034
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. La Luz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Mar 2034
Luis Morán hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Luz can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom27 Mar 2034
La Luz counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at La Luz now.
Squad27 Mar 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Luz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings27 Mar 2034
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Mar 2034
Words at La Luz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Muñóz 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
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2034
Every point is an argument now for La Luz
Position 14 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad6 Feb 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Forastiero commits to La Luz for another 2 years.
Squad6 Feb 2034
Tempers go at La Luz
Mathías Pintos 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 Feb 2034
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. La Luz will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad6 Feb 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Dátolo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Feb 2034
96% of the income goes out in wages at La Luz
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.