The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Güemes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merrill Nand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The deal with Gimnasia y Tiro 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.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Luis Ramos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Güemes will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
In brief
The dugoutZac Jagielka asks for a word with the manager
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Güemes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 17 and 24 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.
The deal with Platense 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Luis Ramos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Erchego trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Everything agreed with Temperley, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Güemes asked and Instituto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merrill Nand 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maico Quiroz signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Juan Pablo Álvarez has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merrill Nand 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.
Güemes have made the call to Estudiantes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Exequiel Banegas is on it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Adrián Fernández was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Güemes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Güemes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merrill Nand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Güemes would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Soto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Güemes can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
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.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gianfranco Baier trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merrill Nand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gianluca Pugliese’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Maxi'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.
Position 17 and 24 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.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gianfranco Baier signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Güemes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zac Jagielka 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Nobody at Güemes 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Adrián Fernández is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gianluca Pugliese signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMauricio Bravo has become a man the manager trusts
Position 17 and 24 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Güemes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 17 on 24 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nueva Chicago left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
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 1‑2 Juan Pablo Álvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
1‑6 to Estudiantes, 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Güemes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Maico Quiroz on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Güemes and Estudiantes.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Maico Quiroz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianfranco Baier 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Gianluca Pugliese 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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
0‑3 to Central Norte, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Güemes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 16 and 19 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.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Match27 Jul 2030
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Güemes and Morón in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Almagro had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Maipú keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
1‑4 to Aldosivi, 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.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Everything agreed with Temperley, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Güemes asked and Newell's Old Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merrill Nand 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.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Güemes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Güemes asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Pablo Álvarez after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Merrill Nand 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Nueva Chicago had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Instituto have accepted the money. What Güemes do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Gimnasia y Tiro wanted more than $290.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Güemes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Gimnasia y Esgrima for Gino Rizzo 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
$290.0K on the table at Gimnasia y Tiro. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newell's Old Boys have kept their man, and Güemes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merrill Nand 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A loan enquiry to Racing Club: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Juan Pablo Álvarez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Güemes dressing room was either.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Gianfranco Baier has moved up it.
Nobody at Güemes 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gianluca Pugliese signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Mauricio Bravo is on it.
0‑3 to Temperley, 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.
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.28 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Position 16 and 9 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.
1-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Güemes and San Martín SJ in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Zac Jagielka 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Central Norte will replay every second of the added time for a week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Zac Jagielka 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.
1‑4 to Agropecuario Argentino, 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.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gianluca Pugliese 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 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.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
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 1‑4 Juan Pablo Álvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
A brace, and Maico Quiroz takes the afternoon — 8.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maico Quiroz provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
0‑4 to Aldosivi, 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.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
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 0‑4 Juan Pablo Álvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Beaten 4 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chacarita Juniors in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
0‑4 to San Martín SJ, 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Pablo Álvarez after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Aldosivi.
Gianluca Pugliese 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Gino Rizzo has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
It needed Lautaro Erchego to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Defensores Unidos, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout4 Mar 2030
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.” Juan Pablo Álvarez chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Güemes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Gianluca Pugliese decided nobody was going anywhere. Defensores had no time left to answer.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Zac Jagielka 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.