Marked for Brian Croce
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Oct 2027
Brian Croce has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gimnasia La Plata they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match23 Oct 2027
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Gimnasia La Plata are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Johan Carbonero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Gimnasia La Plata training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Colazo 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Agustín Colazo
“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.
The dugout25 Oct 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.” Bruno López chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Alejandro Almaraz has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Gimnasia La Plata 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.
Looking ahead25 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marcelo Torres’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Gimnasia La Plata needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 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 The request is on a desk at Gimnasia La Plata, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gimnasia La Plata may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Gimnasia La Plata training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejo Antilef 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Alejo Antilef is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gimnasia La Plata has been clear about where Alejo Antilef stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad11 Oct 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 Gimnasia La Plata this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Oct 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 Gimnasia La Plata, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Gabriel Ayala has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Gimnasia La Plata 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gimnasia La Plata know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match27 Sep 2027
Position 2, 20 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.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Róyner Benítez: 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.” Gimnasia La Plata have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market27 Sep 2027
Brian Croce has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gimnasia La Plata they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Agustín Colazo 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Alejo Antilef and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.55 on the card, and the Gimnasia La Plata support went home talking about one name.
Market27 Sep 2027
Róyner Benítez is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gimnasia La Plata has been clear about where Róyner Benítez stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Domke, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.86, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Lucas Barrientos is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Atlanta United FC to sit and watch. I want to come back to Gimnasia La Plata and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Squad13 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 Gimnasia La Plata this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bruno López on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Gimnasia La Plata man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Marcelo Torres was the best thing in any of them.
Market13 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gimnasia La Plata know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market6 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 Gimnasia La Plata, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Brian Croce has agreed terms with San Martín SJ for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Johan Carbonero 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 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.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“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 Gimnasia La Plata, and 2 appearances in 31 say he has earned the hearing.
Market6 Sep 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Trompa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Sep 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Liam Rossi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market6 Sep 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Benjamín Ortiz has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ignacio Miramón named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ignacio Miramón is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Brian Croce
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Croce will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gimnasia La Plata the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Johan Carbonero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Something was said to Bautista Barros Schelotto and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout30 Aug 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Agustín Colazo 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.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
30 starts and a season average of 6.83. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
15 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market30 Aug 2027
Gimnasia La Plata have let the market know Federico Milo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Aug 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 Gimnasia La Plata, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match14 Aug 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Nelson Insfrán
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Alejo Antilef 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“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 Gimnasia La Plata, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Giménez commits to Gimnasia La Plata for another 3 years.