Marked for Benjamín Garay
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Nov 2027
Anger at Los Andes spills outside the ground
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.
Match29 Nov 2027
Los Andes sink to position 18
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market29 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Benjamín Garay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Garay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Los Andes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Julián Navas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
A promise honoured at Los Andes
Something was said to Julián Rodríguez Vuotto and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market29 Nov 2027
Los Andes have made Gabriel Cañete available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Franco Álvarez 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Brian Leizza 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Nov 2027
Matías 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leandro Alegre, and the manager let it.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clock does Benjamín Garay’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Los Andes could ask drops and the wages Benjamín Garay can ask rise.
Market22 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Gabriel Carrasco may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A wage question at Los Andes
Gonzalo Cozzoni has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Axel Páez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Los Andes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Los Andes
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market15 Nov 2027
Daniel Franco has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Los Andes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market15 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Los Andes
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Matías 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Benjamín Garay is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Los Andes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Los Andes says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Los Andes has turned into something else
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.
Match1 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Los Andes
Position 18 and 10 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Benjamín Garay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Garay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Matías 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Juan Manuel Vázquez's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Julián Navas. Los Andes will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Julián Navas 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brian Leizza 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Los Andes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Oct 2027
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leandro Alegre, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Daniel Franco 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 Daniel Franco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Oct 2027
Los Andes have let the market know Daniel Franco can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market25 Oct 2027
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Los Andes could get for him.
Market25 Oct 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ricardo Sosa leaves Los Andes the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Los Andes
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market18 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniel Franco
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Franco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Los Andes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market18 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Matías 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Julián Navas 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Gabriel Cañete 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 Gabriel Cañete trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at Los Andes has turned into something else
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.
Match4 Oct 2027
Every point is an argument now for Los Andes
Position 18 and 10 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Bruno Villalba has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The Los Andes board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market4 Oct 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Los Andes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Benjamín Garay 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Manuel Vázquez commits to Los Andes for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brian Leizza 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 Los Andes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Match18 Sep 2027
14 matches without a goal for Los Andes
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 14 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Los Andes
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Los Andes is running low.
Market20 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Los Andes
Brian Leizza 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Matías 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Alvarado left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jul 2027
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Los Andes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Los Andes's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Andes has to find a result from somewhere.
Match17 Jul 2027
5 matches without a goal for Los Andes
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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brian Leizza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Los Andes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Gómez 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Matías Gómez
“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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
127% of the income goes out in wages at Los Andes
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Jul 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Los Andes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Bruno Villalba has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Los Andes can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Los Andes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Los Andes
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Matías 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
The goals have deserted Los Andes
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Los Andes can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Los Andes
Julián Navas 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 dugout5 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match3 Jul 2027
Gimnasia y Tiro left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Everything rides on Güemes
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Benjamín Garay's mistake decides it
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
Gonzalo Cozzoni damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Quilmes, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match24 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Los Andes
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Andes can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Apr 2027
4 matches without a goal for Los Andes
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brian Leizza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Mario Galeano
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Los Andes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.