Marked for Lisandro Zacaría
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Aldosivi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom12 Nov 2029
Aldosivi still without a manager
11 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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 Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Aldosivi told Néstor Breitenbruch something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martín García, and the manager let it.
Market12 Nov 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aldosivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market12 Nov 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Diego Benedetti has his answer from Aldosivi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The terraces12 Nov 2029
Supporters make their feelings known about Agustín Martegani
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Aldosivi would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Laurelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
The Aldosivi 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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Maximiliano Lombardi recited it perfectly.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words exchanged at Aldosivi
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías 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.
Market5 Nov 2029
Lucas Rodríguez is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aldosivi has been clear about where Lucas Rodríguez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
news_h_severance_paid
news_b_severance_paid
The dugout5 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Da Luz, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
A fresh start for Nicolás Cordero under the new man
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Nicolás Cordero has taken the hint, and Aldosivi are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Sep 2029
Diego Diellos breaks a bone — 39 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías 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.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match1 Sep 2029
Aldosivi rescue it on 86 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Argentinos Juniors had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match1 Sep 2029
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout3 Sep 2029
“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 dugout3 Sep 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.
The dugout3 Sep 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Aug 2029
Diego Diellos breaks a bone — 61 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Matías Vera 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Federico Arce, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market13 Aug 2029
He is 20, and nobody at Aldosivi signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
Nobody at Aldosivi 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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The name of Nicolás Cordero keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aldosivi say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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 Mauro Da Luz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead13 Aug 2029
Sarmiento next, and one man in the Aldosivi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Diego Diellos out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match4 Aug 2029
The wait goes on for Aldosivi
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad6 Aug 2029
A one-man rearguard from Lucas Acosta
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.
Match4 Aug 2029
The goals have deserted Aldosivi
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Agustín Martegani 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 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mauro Da Luz and Aldosivi agree another 2 years.
Match4 Aug 2029
0‑2 to Belgrano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Aldosivi will try again when the window opens; Barracas Central may not be selling by then.