Marked for Iván Herrera
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Oct 2028
Arsenal are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 64 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market30 Oct 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 Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad30 Oct 2028
Damián Pérez 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matías Lucero commits to Arsenal for another 3 years.
Market30 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Luca Franco’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout30 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Matteo Trombini wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Arsenal have no good answer.
Market30 Oct 2028
Arsenal have made Iván Herrera available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Oct 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Valentín Serrano 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 dugout9 Oct 2028
Matías Lucero gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matías Lucero is on it.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
Julián Vila 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.
Market9 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nahuel Pezzini’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Matías Lucero wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Arsenal have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Oct 2028
Arsenal are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 64 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market2 Oct 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 Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad2 Oct 2028
Damián Pérez 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bruno Acosta and Arsenal agree another 3 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Dylan Cabral
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dylan Cabral has come out of that comparison in the side, and Arsenal have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Iván Cabrera has moved up it.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Matías Lucero 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 Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Luca Franco’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2028
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad14 Aug 2028
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad14 Aug 2028
25 goals and a season average of 7.32. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market14 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Arsenal make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Arsenal have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Damián Pérez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match12 Aug 2028
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Luca Franco in the middle of it, and Estudiantes unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Looking ahead14 Aug 2028
Top-of-the-table clash for Arsenal
San Miguel next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
In brief
-
Player ratings
The afternoon ran through Matías Sosa
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Matías Lucero
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Aug 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 Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Match7 Aug 2028
Arsenal refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 49 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Matías Sosa is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.40 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 Aug 2028
Iván Herrera gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Iván Herrera has just signed for Arsenal, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joaquín Ochoa Giménez and Arsenal agree another 3 years.
Match5 Aug 2028
Three points for Arsenal, 2‑0 the final word against Tristán Suárez in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
No place for Bruno Acosta on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Arsenal pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.