Marked for Marcelo Suarez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Jan 2029
Nicolás Mosca 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Louay Labidi 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Atlanta are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Máximo Tabuchi 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Braian Rivero signs something — a contract at Atlanta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Marcelo Suarez 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 Marcelo Suarez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market15 Jan 2029
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Atlanta money.
Market15 Jan 2029
Atlanta have made Jorge Ugarte available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 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 The request is on a desk at Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Nicolás Previtali has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Atlanta is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Unión de Santa Fe keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Atlanta
Alejo Dramisino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
The window shuts on the Emanuel Bilbao deal
Atlanta ran out of time with Instituto. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Carlos Frayde commits to Atlanta for another 3 years.
Squad8 Jan 2029
No place for Carlos Frayde in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atlanta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Carlos Frayde falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“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
Crisis
Boardroom4 Dec 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 Dec 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Atlanta
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Atlanta is running low.
Market4 Dec 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
The deal with Patronato 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
Pablo Costa faces a manager he fell out with
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Atlanta expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Pablo Costa.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Asdrúbal and Atlanta agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Atlanta are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Pablo Costa faces a manager he fell out with
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Atlanta expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Pablo Costa.
Squad27 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Atlanta
Flavio Fuscaldi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
Atlanta 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.
Market27 Nov 2028
The name of Nicolás Previtali keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Atlanta say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Marcelo Suarez 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 Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market20 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
The decline has begun for Asdrúbal
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Atlanta is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Flavio Fuscaldi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Nobody at Atlanta will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Nov 2028
The name of Alejo Dramisino keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Atlanta say nothing, which says plenty.
Market20 Nov 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marcelo Suarez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Oct 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Wages swallow 98% of the Atlanta 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
No place for Pablo Costa in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atlanta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Flavio Fuscaldi 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 dugout23 Oct 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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo Ferrari, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Tomás Rojas 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
Louay Labidi 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Nicolás Previtali has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Atlanta is pretending otherwise.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Oct 2028
As if he never left: Pablo Costa returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Pablo Costa is a Atlanta player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pablo Costa and Atlanta agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market16 Oct 2028
A stepping stone, not a home, for Pablo Costa
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Atlanta were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Flavio Fuscaldi 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcelo Suarez, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
A promise honoured at Atlanta
Something was said to Victor Casseres and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Sep 2028
There were 9 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
Nicolás Mosca 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Sep 2028
Tomás Rojas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match23 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Atlanta's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlanta has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad25 Sep 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 Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Sep 2028
Maipú left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
98% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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 dugout25 Sep 2028
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 Benjamín Álvarez to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout25 Sep 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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 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 Sep 2028
Román Herrera has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Nicolás Mosca 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Flavio Fuscaldi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Tomás Rojas 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 Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Juan Francisco Rago’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlanta needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Sep 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market11 Sep 2028
Tomás Rojas runs his contract down
4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Atlanta money.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A wage question at Atlanta
Tomás Rojas has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Aug 2028
Mateo Ferrari 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Nicolás Previtali has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Atlanta is pretending otherwise.
Match19 Aug 2028
It had gone 9 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Louay Labidi 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 terraces21 Aug 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Carlos Medel has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Atlanta had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market21 Aug 2028
A stepping stone, not a home, for Marcelo Suarez
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Atlanta were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
“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
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Atlanta
9 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.
Market14 Aug 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Román Herrera
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Román Herrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match12 Aug 2028
5 matches without a goal for Atlanta
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Nicolás Mosca 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Ferro Carril Oeste left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Benjamín Álvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad14 Aug 2028
No place for Asdrúbal in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atlanta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Aug 2028
8 matches without a win for Atlanta
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Atlanta are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Aug 2028
Carlos Medel 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
Atlanta counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Atlanta now.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Alejo Dramisino 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.
Match5 Aug 2028
Atlanta cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Louay Labidi and Atlanta agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Marcelo Suarez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.