Marked for Daniel Moreno
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Apr 2035
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Agropecuario Argentino has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Apr 2035
A 0‑3 beating by Gimnasia y Esgrima was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad30 Apr 2035
A fracture rules Nicolás Sánchez out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Agropecuario Argentino will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Apr 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Agropecuario Argentino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Antonio Napolitano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match28 Apr 2035
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.87, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Boardroom30 Apr 2035
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Apr 2035
“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 The request is on a desk at Agropecuario Argentino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Antonio Napolitano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Agropecuario Argentino than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
Chapa 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 Agropecuario Argentino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
83 graduates from an academy now rated 4 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
Looking ahead2 Apr 2035
A side in position 6 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Feb 2035
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.
Market26 Feb 2035
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Agropecuario Argentino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Feb 2035
Central Norte left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
“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 dugout26 Feb 2035
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 15. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
Player ratings26 Feb 2035
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Oct 2034
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Agropecuario Argentino will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom30 Oct 2034
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market30 Oct 2034
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Agropecuario Argentino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Oct 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas López Iglesias, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Oct 2034
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $16.1M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Costa 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 dugout30 Oct 2034
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.
Market30 Oct 2034
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Diego Bentancur signs something — a contract at Agropecuario Argentino or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.