Marked for Dante Spitale
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Federico Real out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Flandria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 Dec 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 The request is on a desk at Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Dec 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 Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Facundo Ruiz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market25 Dec 2028
The phone has started ringing about Valentín Díaz again, and this time the name on the line is Durazno. Flandria are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Maldonado commits to Flandria for another 5 years.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“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.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Lucas Giménez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Flandria 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Nov 2028
Federico Real breaks a bone — 112 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Nov 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.
Squad27 Nov 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 Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Facundo Ruiz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Flandria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín López is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces27 Nov 2028
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match25 Nov 2028
Three points for Flandria, 1‑0 the final word against Comunicaciones in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Leonel Jaime is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.32 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
Federico Real breaks a bone — 119 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Martín Correa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Matías Mariatti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Martín López 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
“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 Nov 2028
Tadeo Suárez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Flandria 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.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Martín López 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.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Comunicaciones in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Dante Spitale: 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.” Flandria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Nazareno Diosquez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Market16 Oct 2028
Rodrigo Bernal has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flandria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Lucas Giménez 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.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
The big one: Sacachispas come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Flandria will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
A promise honoured at Flandria
Something was said to Martín López and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Carlos Morel gets picked when it counts
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 Carlos Morel is on it.
Market16 Oct 2028
The Matías López story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías López signs something — a contract at Flandria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Sep 2028
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A defender's goal wins it for Flandria — 7.87
1 for Lucas Giménez, marked 7.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Martín Correa 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Espínola, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Liam Flores on a 4‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad25 Sep 2028
3 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Martín López 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 Martín López trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Nazareno Diosquez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Market18 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Rodrigo Bernal
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Bernal will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flandria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces18 Sep 2028
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match16 Sep 2028
A 2‑0 win over Chaco For Ever, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match16 Sep 2028
Flandria make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Dilan Acosta 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 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Dante Spitale
“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 ratings18 Sep 2028
Marked 7.81 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Flandria had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Aug 2028
3‑0, and Tomás Martínez took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Flandria tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market28 Aug 2028
The bid was some way short and Flandria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Flandria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín López 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Lucas Giménez 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 dugout28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nazareno Diosquez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
Liam Flores: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
In brief
-
Squad
Defences have started doubling up on Leonel Jaime
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The dugout
Matías López has become a man the manager trusts
-
Squad
The division's best last weekend was a Flandria man
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
A one-man rearguard from Facundo Vila
There were 10 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.
Match26 Jul 2028
Independiente ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Santiago Ferez: 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.” Flandria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Jul 2028
Aktobe come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Flandria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The clock did what Villa San Carlos would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Dilan Acosta 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Dante Spitale
“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
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.
The dugout3 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.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Juan Espínola and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
$120.0K on the table at Tigre. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Martín López falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Flandria asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.17, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nazareno Diosquez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Jun 2028
Fénix will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Flandria were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.59, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Leonel Jaime, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.36
A mark of 8.36 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market5 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 Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Chacarita Juniors; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Flandria have gone to Estudiantes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Temperley have kept their man, and Flandria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 May 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 Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Agustín Prokop has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
At 21, Leonel Jaime is already the best thing here
An average of 7.11 in a first team he is several years too young for. Flandria have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad22 May 2028
Carlos Morel 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 Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Flandria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín López is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Giménez, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Carlos Morel 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.
Match20 May 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout22 May 2028
Lucas Giménez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
Ismael Cuello gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ismael Cuello has just signed for Flandria, and for once the answer mattered.
The dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos Morel and Flandria agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Carlos Morel 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Martín López 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.
Match6 May 2028
Matías Donato scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Real Pilar, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Herrera, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Liam Flores left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout8 May 2028
The form table has caught Carlos Morel
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A one-man rearguard from Tadeo Suárez
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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Carlos Morel 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match8 Apr 2028
At last: Flandria win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Deportivo Laferrere. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nazareno Diosquez, and the manager let it.
Market10 Apr 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Dante Spitale has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Flandria.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Flandria had the best player on the pitch.
In brief
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The dugout
The form table has caught Carlos Morel
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Leonel Jaime
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Agustín Prokop has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Flandria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Carlos Morel 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 Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dante Spitale, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market27 Mar 2028
The Matías López talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Flandria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market27 Mar 2028
Flandria have let the market know Facundo Brestt can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Flandria will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Flandria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Dante Spitale has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flandria is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Flandria
Carlos Morel 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Martín López 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
The goals have deserted Flandria
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Flandria can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Carlos Morel gets it from the manager
“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.
Match11 Mar 2028
0‑1 to UAI Urquiza, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. 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
Upbeat
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Dante Spitale: 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.” Flandria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
No deal for Pablo Magnín at that price
Flandria offered $20.0K; Sarmiento said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Flandria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín López is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Flandria asked and Chaco For Ever said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Dilan Acosta 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Carlos Morel gets picked when it counts
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 Carlos Morel is on it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Martín López 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 Flandria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Donato signs something — a contract at Flandria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market17 Jan 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Dante Spitale may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 Dec 2027
Flandria are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 77 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market27 Dec 2027
Dante Spitale 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 Flandria can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Facundo Brestt: 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.” Flandria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market27 Dec 2027
Lautaro Zotta has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flandria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market27 Dec 2027
The chase for Fidel Tourn ended with $190.0K changing hands and Lanús out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Flandria
Carlos Morel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
No deal for Lucas Vicó at that price
Flandria offered $100.0K; Ferrocarril Midland said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Guiacobini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Tadeo Suárez: 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.” Flandria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Nazareno Diosquez 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
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nazareno Diosquez will call it something else in private.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
7.69, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Flandria had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match20 Nov 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Excursionistas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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.” Liam Flores chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Flandria will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dante Spitale, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Federico Real was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Matías López has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Flandria 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A Flandria teenager takes the young player award
Felipe Obradovich is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Flandria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market15 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alfredo Trejo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Flandria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flandria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Martín López 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 Sep 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Rodrigo Bernal
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Flandria will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dante Spitale, and the manager let it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Matías López gets picked when it counts
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 Matías López is on it.
Market6 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Donato signs something — a contract at Flandria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Federico Real 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 Federico Real trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
120 days out for Alfredo Trejo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Flandria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match12 Jul 2027
Flandria refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 43 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market12 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 Flandria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lanús is saying, and nobody at Flandria is enjoying the guessing.
Match10 Jul 2027
Flandria make home a hard place to visit
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market12 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Lautaro Zotta
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Zotta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flandria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Jul 2027
1‑2 to Sportivo Italiano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match6 Jul 2027
Almagro made Flandria work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Matías Donato
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Squad
Hugo Espínola falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Alfredo Trejo out for 128 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Flandria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 3-goal lead gone for Flandria
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Deportivo Armenio kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Flandria will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market5 Jul 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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad5 Jul 2027
18 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Flandria offered $580.0K; Instituto said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tomás Guiacobini 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 Jul 2027
Gimnasia La Plata will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Máximo Cabrera has pre-agreed a move to Flandria, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Jun 2027
Rosario Central ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match14 Jun 2027
Flandria are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 33 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market14 Jun 2027
Dante Spitale 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 Flandria can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Rosario Central is saying, and nobody at Flandria is enjoying the guessing.
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flandria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Flandria
Carlos Morel 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Villa Dálmine pay $640.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match1 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Flandria right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad3 May 2027
Carlos Morel 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 Flandria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Flandria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín López 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.
Match1 May 2027
Three points for Flandria, 2‑1 the final word against Real Pilar in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dante Spitale, and the manager let it.
Squad3 May 2027
The medical room confirms 21 days on the sidelines for Martín Pérez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings3 May 2027
A mark of 7.83, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Liam Flores, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2027
Flandria through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Comunicaciones, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad26 Apr 2027
29 days out for Rodrigo Bernal after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Flandria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Ramiro De la Riva, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 9.39
A mark of 9.39 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad26 Apr 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Flandria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Flandria do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Carlos Morel 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 terraces26 Apr 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
32 days out for Carlos Morel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Flandria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tomás Guiacobini 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Flandria did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Flandria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.64 on the card, and the Flandria support went home talking about one name.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Matías Mariatti
“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.
Match3 Apr 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Liam Flores was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Flandria dressing room was either.
Market5 Apr 2027
Matías López is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Flandria has been clear about where Matías López stands, which is more than many ever get.