Marked for León
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jan 2032
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Colegiales lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Jan 2032
“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 The request is on a desk at Colegiales, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jan 2032
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Gimnasia y Esgrima moved on, Fernando Uriel reports back to Colegiales, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Juan Ibáñez 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 targets12 Jan 2032
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 targets12 Jan 2032
The window shuts on the Enzo Arancibia deal
Colegiales ran out of time with Maipú. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout12 Jan 2032
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Market12 Jan 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago Strasorier signs something — a contract at Colegiales or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces12 Jan 2032
The stands have heard the Juan Ibáñez talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Colegiales would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Nov 2031
Ezequiel Sosa 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 Colegiales can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Juan Ibáñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Nov 2031
A row about effort at Colegiales
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Medina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
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The dugout24 Nov 2031
No hiding place for León
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to León, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
Gustavo Puello 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.
Market24 Nov 2031
The name of Enzo Trinidad keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Colegiales say nothing, which says plenty.
Market24 Nov 2031
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Colegiales money.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
The Colegiales production line keeps running
60 graduates out of an academy now rated 4 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Sep 2031
“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 Colegiales, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Iván Medina 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 dugout1 Sep 2031
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Squad1 Sep 2031
Alan Duré 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.
Squad1 Sep 2031
León signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” León commits to Colegiales for another 3 years.
Player ratings1 Sep 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Daniel Correa was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Colegiales dressing room was either.
Market1 Sep 2031
“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 dugout1 Sep 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fernando Uriel, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Feb 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Benítez
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Colegiales lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Colegiales may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Feb 2031
A one-man rearguard from Juan Ibáñez
There were 6 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.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Enzo Trinidad 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.
Match8 Feb 2031
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The terraces10 Feb 2031
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
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Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Ninety minutes of Gustavo Puello at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Colegiales.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Juan Ibáñez 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 Feb 2031
5 academy graduates step up at Colegiales
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad3 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Colegiales
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Medina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Feb 2031
The academy exists for exactly this morning. León has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market3 Feb 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maximiliano Paz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market3 Feb 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Maximiliano Peralta has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market3 Feb 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Iglesias is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match1 Feb 2031
San Miguel left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.