Marked for Noah Moreno
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces11 Nov 2030
Anger at Alto Peru 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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Mendez
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alto Peru lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alto Peru this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Nov 2030
The clock does Joaquín González’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Alto Peru could ask drops and the wages Joaquín González can ask rise.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
Agustín González is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
Noah Moreno 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Sep 2030
The knee: Martín Mazza out for 31 days
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alto Peru lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom23 Sep 2030
Pressure builds in the Alto Peru boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at Alto Peru
Martín Pereyra 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.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Alto Peru are still strangers to each other
7 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.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
Noah Moreno 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 Noah Moreno trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Alto Peru. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Apr 2030
Alto Peru sink to position 9
1 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Apr 2030
“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 Alto Peru, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words exchanged at Alto Peru
Mateo Alzueta 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Alto Peru training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Pereyra 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 dugout22 Apr 2030
Mateo Alzueta 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.
Looking ahead22 Apr 2030
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Los Halcones in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Noah Moreno 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 Alto Peru will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Looking ahead22 Apr 2030
Looking ahead: the trip to Los Halcones
Position 8 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Rafael Mendes 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.