Marked for Juan Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jun 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Barrios will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Mar de Fondo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cerro Largo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Mar de Fondo asked and Deportivo Colonia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Ignacio Soria 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 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
A loan move for Facundo Molina is in the works
Mar de Fondo have made the call to Cooper. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Albion have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
Juan Ramirez 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 Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jun 2029
Juan Ramirez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Jun 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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Everything agreed with Albion, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensor Sporting have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
Wages swallow 153% of the Mar de Fondo income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad18 Jun 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jun 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Santiago De Arrascaeta to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Mar de Fondo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market4 Jun 2029
Only the photograph left for Jorge Araujo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jorge Araujo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Everything agreed with Deportivo Maldonado, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Jun 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$31.0K from the owner keeps Mar de Fondo afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market21 May 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 Mar de Fondo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout21 May 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Match19 May 2029
Nahuel Méndez scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Salus, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Wages eat 148% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad21 May 2029
Ignacio Soria 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 dugout21 May 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.
Market21 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mar de Fondo, another week without a signature from Santiago Morales.
The dugout21 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Santiago De Arrascaeta to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Mar de Fondo's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mar de Fondo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Barrios is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Apr 2029
Villa Espanola left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
The dugout30 Apr 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.
Looking ahead30 Apr 2029
Canadian next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Mar de Fondo can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Apr 2029
Juan Ramirez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match21 Apr 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.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Match21 Apr 2029
2‑4 to Platense, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Ignacio Soria 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 terraces23 Apr 2029
At 23 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.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Juan Ramirez
“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
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2029
Juan Ramirez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mar de Fondo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Ignacio Soria 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 dugout26 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.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
Wages eat 100% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
Nobody arrives at Mar de Fondo until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Mar de Fondo this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Felipe Garcia's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market26 Mar 2029
The clock does Juan Ramirez’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mar de Fondo could ask drops and the wages Juan Ramirez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
The knee: Alvaro Silva out for 25 days
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mar de Fondo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Mar 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Jorge Araujo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jorge Araujo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Ignacio Soria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Mar 2029
0‑2 to Salus, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Thiago Lopez 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.
Loan watch12 Mar 2029
“I watch every Mar de Fondo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lito runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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 0‑2 Santiago De Arrascaeta left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
A fracture rules Nahuel Méndez out for 14 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mar de Fondo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Feb 2029
Nahuel Méndez 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 Mar de Fondo can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Juan Ramirez has agreed terms with Central Espanol for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Leonardo Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Feb 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Leonardo Ferreira. 1‑0 against Canadian, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
89% of the income goes out in wages at Mar de Fondo
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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Felipe Garcia
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The dugout
Emilio Irureta knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Feb 2029
A fracture rules Nahuel Méndez out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mar de Fondo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Central Espanol is saying, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is enjoying the guessing.
Market5 Feb 2029
The phone has started ringing about Jorge Araujo again, and this time the name on the line is Rocha. Mar de Fondo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Méndez commits to Mar de Fondo for another 2 years.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Mar de Fondo asked and Cerro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Feb 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
The dugout5 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.
Market5 Feb 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jan 2029
A fracture rules Nahuel Méndez out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mar de Fondo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mar de Fondo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
No thanks: Matías Canedo rejects the move
Mar de Fondo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Rampla Juniors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mathias Santos is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
Wages eat 91% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Central Espanol have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Ignacio Soria 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 Jan 2029
Supporters organise against the Mar de Fondo board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Mar de Fondo
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mar de Fondo is running low.
Squad22 Jan 2029
50 days out for Nahuel Méndez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mar de Fondo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Santiago Morales has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The deal with Danubio is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Mar de Fondo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Miramar Misiones, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Mar de Fondo asked and Rampla Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Victor Vásquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
Nahuel Méndez breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match15 Jan 2029
Every point is an argument now for Mar de Fondo
Position 7 and 15 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.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with Salus, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad15 Jan 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Penarol: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market15 Jan 2029
Lito are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mar de Fondo will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market15 Jan 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Jan 2029
Nahuel Méndez breaks a bone — 65 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mar de Fondo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Jan 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Carlos Gamarra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Jan 2029
The name of Jorge Araujo has come up in conversations Mar de Fondo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Market8 Jan 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mar de Fondo, another week without a signature from Carlos Gamarra.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Thiago Pellistri 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
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
72 days out for Nahuel Méndez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mar de Fondo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market1 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lito waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 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 Mar de Fondo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Paysandu FC keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Leonardo Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Miramar Misiones have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market1 Jan 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mar de Fondo, another week without a signature from Juan Ramirez.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Salus: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Nahuel Méndez out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mar de Fondo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Dec 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mar de Fondo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market11 Dec 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Matias Olivera had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market11 Dec 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.
Market11 Dec 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mar de Fondo have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets11 Dec 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Loan watch11 Dec 2028
“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 Mar de Fondo, and 13 appearances in 47 say he has earned the hearing.
Transfer targets11 Dec 2028
Defensor Sporting have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Nahuel Méndez out for 100 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mar de Fondo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Mar de Fondo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Dec 2028
Joaquin Godoy 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 Mar de Fondo can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Jorge Araujo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jorge Araujo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
Mar de Fondo asked and Cerrito said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market4 Dec 2028
Add another name to the list: Lito have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matias Olivera. The answer from Mar de Fondo has not changed — yet.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Facundo Rodríguez 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.
Squad4 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Nov 2028
Nahuel Méndez breaks a bone — 129 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 Nov 2028
Jorge Araujo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
Wages swallow 98% of the Mar de Fondo income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Market6 Nov 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Emilio Irureta 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 Emilio Irureta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 35 with 211 appearances behind him, and Mar de Fondo have to plan for both answers.
Market6 Nov 2028
Mar de Fondo have let the market know Santiago Morales can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
Nahuel Méndez breaks a bone — 143 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 143 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match23 Oct 2028
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 Oct 2028
Matias Olivera has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Juan Ramirez 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
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Gabriel Suarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Victor Vásquez 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 watch16 Oct 2028
“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 Mar de Fondo, and 13 appearances in 39 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Juan Ramirez 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.
The dugout16 Oct 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.
Market16 Oct 2028
The clock does Facundo Rodríguez’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mar de Fondo could ask drops and the wages Facundo Rodríguez can ask rise.
Market16 Oct 2028
Mar de Fondo have made Victor Vásquez available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mar de Fondo can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Sep 2028
Jorge Araujo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Victor Vásquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
97% of the income goes out in wages at Mar de Fondo
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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Rodrigo Garcia 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 Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Sep 2028
Mar de Fondo have let the market know Santiago Morales can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The comeback date has moved again: another 1 days for Nahuel Méndez, and a schedule the medical staff have stopped putting in writing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces4 Sep 2028
Anger at Mar de Fondo 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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Pressure builds in the Mar de Fondo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Santiago Morales has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Martinez, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Carlos Gamarra loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Carlos Gamarra's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Mar de Fondo can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Aug 2028
Position 7, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
The numbers do not look good at Mar de Fondo
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Victor Vásquez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Aug 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mar de Fondo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Santiago Morales has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cerrito have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Aug 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Loan watch7 Aug 2028
“I did not go to Potencia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mar de Fondo and fight for my place.” 13 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Emilio Irureta 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 Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad7 Aug 2028
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Mar de Fondo until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market24 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Jorge Araujo again, and this time the name on the line is Paysandu FC. Mar de Fondo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Facundo Rodríguez 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Victor Vásquez 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 targets24 Jul 2028
A loan move for Alfonso de Luca is in the works
Mar de Fondo have made the call to Liverpool Montevideo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Wanderers have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Martinez, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Federico Viera 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
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mar de Fondo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed with Penarol and then the doctor spoke. Mar de Fondo have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Market17 Jul 2028
Miguel Gimenez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The deal with Rentistas is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
Wages eat 132% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Juan Ramirez 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 Juan Ramirez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Parque del Plata waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Santiago Morales has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Market10 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jorge Araujo reports back to Mar de Fondo with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with Penarol, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Montevideo City Torque have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Mateo Marrero
“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.
Squad10 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Miramar Misiones have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mar de Fondo can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mar de Fondo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Miramar Misiones, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Penarol keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Leonardo Ferreira 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cerro Largo have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A loan move for Facundo Álvez is in the works
Mar de Fondo have made the call to Penarol. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jun 2028
Position 7, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market5 Jun 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Matias Olivera has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Mar de Fondo now.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Mar de Fondo asked and Rentistas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Rodríguez 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.
Loan watch5 Jun 2028
“I did not go to Potencia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mar de Fondo and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 20 matches say the rest.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Victor Vásquez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Facundo Jimenez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Viera 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 dugout29 May 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Mar de Fondo pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Squad29 May 2028
Victor Vásquez 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.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Juan Ramirez
7.34, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Mar de Fondo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Santiago De Arrascaeta was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Mar de Fondo dressing room was either.
The dugout29 May 2028
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.
The dugout29 May 2028
Juan Ramirez 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 Juan Ramirez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Match27 May 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Platense came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 May 2028
1‑4 against Salus, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market22 May 2028
Miguel Gimenez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Carlos Gamarra 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
Wages swallow 143% of the Mar de Fondo income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout22 May 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Facundo Rodríguez 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 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 Mar de Fondo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 May 2028
Carlos Gamarra 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.
Match13 May 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Morales, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Rodríguez 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 dugout15 May 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.
Squad15 May 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Mar de Fondo will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout15 May 2028
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.
Looking ahead15 May 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Salus in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
Leonardo Ferreira 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 Apr 2028
Facundo Rodríguez 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.
Loan watch3 Apr 2028
“I did not go to Potencia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mar de Fondo and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Mateo Marrero
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mateo Marrero has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mar de Fondo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Juan Ramirez 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 Juan Ramirez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Mar de Fondo will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Looking ahead3 Apr 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mateo Marrero’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mar de Fondo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market3 Apr 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mar de Fondo, another week without a signature from Gabriel Suarez.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Mar 2028
Miguel Gimenez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Carlos Gamarra 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Federico Viera 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
109% of the income goes out in wages at Mar de Fondo
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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 Matias Olivera is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jan 2028
Juan Ramirez 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 Mar de Fondo can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Platense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Penarol; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mar de Fondo have done the hard part with Central Espanol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Mar de Fondo have gone to La Luz 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.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Mar de Fondo asked and Defensor Sporting 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
Victor Vásquez 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Miguel Gimenez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miguel Gimenez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Market3 Jan 2028
The phone has started ringing about Jorge Araujo again, and this time the name on the line is Paysandu FC. Mar de Fondo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Miramar Misiones have kept their man, and Mar de Fondo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Victor Vásquez 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Wages eat 109% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Juan Ramirez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Denilson Mena
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denilson Mena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Denilson Mena 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
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 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.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Mar de Fondo now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Brian Mancini 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Diaz 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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
129% of the income goes out in wages at Mar de Fondo
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Ramirez, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Denilson Mena 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.
Market8 Nov 2027
The shop window has Jorge Araujo in it
Mar de Fondo have let the market know Jorge Araujo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Brian Mancini is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Mar de Fondo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Santiago Diaz 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 dugout1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Ramirez 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Nahuel Méndez. Mar de Fondo will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Matias Olivera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mar de Fondo 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Pressure builds in the Mar de Fondo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market4 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Méndez commits to Mar de Fondo for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brian Mancini 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
1 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Mar de Fondo no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Thiago Lopez 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Matias Olivera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mar de Fondo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Sep 2027
Denilson Mena has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mar de Fondo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Jorge Araujo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad27 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Ramirez
“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.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Thiago Lopez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mar de Fondo is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Diaz 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 dugout16 Aug 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Wages eat 125% of everything Mar de Fondo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Victor Vásquez 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.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I watch every Mar de Fondo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Frontera Rivera runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Something was said to Juan Ramirez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Thiago Lopez 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 Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jorge Araujo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Barrios will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mar de Fondo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 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 Mar de Fondo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Mar de Fondo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Diaz 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Mar de Fondo asked and Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Loan watch9 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 Mar de Fondo, and 1 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Ramirez
“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 dugout9 Aug 2027
Denilson Mena 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 Mar de Fondo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Matias Olivera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mar de Fondo 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Felipe Ortiz has had enough of the bench
“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 Mar de Fondo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.