Marked for Jonathan Spiff
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Nov 2029
River Plate are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market12 Nov 2029
“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.
Match7 Nov 2029
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now River Plate have 4 straight wins of it.
Market12 Nov 2029
Ian Subiabre wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at River Plate hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobías Ramírez and River Plate agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Jeremías Ledesma 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.
Market12 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joaquín Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around River Plate the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Tomás Galván
8 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Marked 9.31 — 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Adana Demirspor's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Adana Demirspor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Oct 2029
İrfan Can Kahveci 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 Oct 2029
“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.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.83, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match29 Sep 2029
A 3‑3 draw with Hatayspor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Lucas Braga finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Adana Demirspor have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tomás Parmo is the real thing at 21
A season average of 7.76 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. River Plate know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market24 Sep 2029
“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.
Market24 Sep 2029
Elián Giménez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around River Plate they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Sep 2029
Argentinos Juniors left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Santiago Lencina
7 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Adana Demirspor's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Adana Demirspor has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Sep 2029
There were 6 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Morten Bjørlo and Adana Demirspor agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Sep 2029
İrfan Can Kahveci 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 ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benjamín García, and the manager let it.
Match1 Sep 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Aug 2029
There were 9 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.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 33, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Tomás Parmo is the real thing at 21
A season average of 7.70 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. River Plate know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market27 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Alexis González: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” River Plate have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market27 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at River Plate is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
The caretaker keeps it: Interim Coach confirmed
A month of looking elsewhere ended where it started. He already knows every name in the building; the rest of it he now has to prove in public.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Adana Demirspor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market20 Aug 2029
“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 Adana Demirspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match18 Aug 2029
7 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
İrfan Can Kahveci 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.
Match18 Aug 2029
1‑3 to Besiktas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandar Busnić, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Buluthan Bulut commits to Adana Demirspor for another 3 years.
The terraces20 Aug 2029
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
Squad13 Aug 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match11 Aug 2029
Beaten 0‑3 by Galatasaray, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match11 Aug 2029
6 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Adana Demirspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Aug 2029
The shirt still fits. Mehmet Kahveci is back at Adana Demirspor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market13 Aug 2029
The shirt still fits. Mert Erkin is back at Adana Demirspor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market13 Aug 2029
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Umut Dervisoglu is a Adana Demirspor player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market13 Aug 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dušan Stojinović, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Jun 2029
River Plate are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 25 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market25 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around River Plate they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Jun 2029
Newell's Old Boys paid $8.4M and River Plate took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market25 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Jeremías Ledesma 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 watch25 Jun 2029
“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 River Plate, and 4 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Tapia, and the manager let it.
Loan watch25 Jun 2029
The goals keep arriving from Sebastián Driussi’s exile
5 goals in 19 games at Plaza Colonia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at River Plate updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Apr 2029
River Plate are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 21 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonás Miszczuk, and the manager let it.
Loan watch30 Apr 2029
“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 River Plate, and 1 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Market30 Apr 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. River Plate will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Lautaro Rivero 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 Lautaro Rivero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market30 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lautaro Rivero’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch30 Apr 2029
The goals keep arriving from Jonathan Spiff’s exile
4 goals in 13 games at Adana Demirspor — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at River Plate updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Lucas Braga 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yasir Subaşı and Adana Demirspor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom9 Apr 2029
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad9 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Lucas Lavagnino
“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.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Marked 8.47 — 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.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match7 Apr 2029
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“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; Adana Demirspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Umut Ozan clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Market2 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Lucas Braga 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 Adana Demirspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yasir Subaşı and Adana Demirspor agree another 2 years.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Mar 2029
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market19 Mar 2029
“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 Adana Demirspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Mar 2029
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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Lucas Braga 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 Adana Demirspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Adana Demirspor know it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“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.
Match17 Mar 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Alanyaspor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
Match10 Mar 2029
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Adana Demirspor are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Lucas Braga 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Mar 2029
The team sheet said everything about Luka Tasić
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Luka Tasić.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match10 Mar 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Antalyaspor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market12 Mar 2029
The Lucas Braga talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Adana Demirspor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
Pressure builds in the Adana Demirspor boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
Umut Ozan has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Adana Demirspor can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Mar 2029
“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 Adana Demirspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Elías Ovelar: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Adana Demirspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Lucas Braga 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 Adana Demirspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Mar 2029
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Feb 2029
“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 Adana Demirspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Lucas Braga 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.
Match24 Feb 2029
1‑2 to Istanbulspor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Lavagnino, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.65, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
Ali Fidan keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Adana Demirspor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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 Adana Demirspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
Still no name above the door at Adana Demirspor
Day 42 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Lucas Braga 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 ratings12 Feb 2029
A performance of 9.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Adana Demirspor will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Morten Bjørlo commits to Adana Demirspor for another 2 years.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Lucas Braga 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 Adana Demirspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“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.
Match3 Feb 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market5 Feb 2029
Adana Demirspor spent the window trying to move Prince Ating on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Jan 2029
25 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market29 Jan 2029
The bid was some way short and River Plate did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Lautaro Rivero 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. River Plate will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch29 Jan 2029
“I watch every River Plate game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vitória runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Nov 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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Nov 2028
He is 20, he is averaging 7.83, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“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.
Market20 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at River Plate is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Nicolás Otamendi 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 watch20 Nov 2028
“I watch every River Plate game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lanús runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sebastián Driussi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Nov 2028
1‑2, and no way to dress it up. A derby defeat follows a supporter to work on Monday, and this one will follow him all week.
Match6 Nov 2028
River Plate are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 25 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market6 Nov 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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Nov 2028
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Jeremías Ledesma 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 ratings6 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
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.
Loan watch6 Nov 2028
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Lanús continues; the message travels home.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. River Plate have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Oct 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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Oct 2028
He is 21, he is averaging 7.44, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Market16 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around River Plate they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 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 River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Oct 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation River Plate did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 9.44 — 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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 8.05 — 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jul 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
He is 20, he is averaging 7.51, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad3 Jul 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 River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch3 Jul 2028
“I did not go to Philadelphia Union to sit and watch. I want to come back to River Plate and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 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 River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” River Plate may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Jun 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 River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at River Plate is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Rivero, and the manager let it.
Market19 Jun 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. River Plate will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch19 Jun 2028
“I watch every River Plate game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zob Ahan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Lucas Beltrán asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market19 Jun 2028
The name of Tobías Ramírez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. River Plate say nothing, which says plenty.