Marked for Daniel Silva
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Nov 2032
The wait goes on for Alvarado
32 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.
Squad8 Nov 2032
There were 8 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.
Market8 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Words exchanged at Alvarado
Rui Oliveira 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.
Match6 Nov 2032
Enzo Arancibia scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Fénix, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Match6 Nov 2032
Alvarado are shipping goals every week
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
Cristian Man gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2032
The wait goes on for Alvarado
29 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.
Boardroom25 Oct 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Alvarado
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match23 Oct 2032
Chastening afternoon for Alvarado
A 1‑4 beating by Dock Sud was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match25 Oct 2032
Every point is an argument now for Alvarado
Position 24 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market25 Oct 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings25 Oct 2032
A defender's goal wins it for Alvarado — 7.58
1 for Pablo Hofstetter, marked 7.58, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The dugout25 Oct 2032
This is not rotation. Daniel Silva has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Alvarado is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Alvarado is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Oct 2032
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2032
Stifensón 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
Alejandro De Luca 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 Oct 2032
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 Stifensón Pérez is on it.
Market11 Oct 2032
The name of Santiago Gutiérrez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Alvarado say nothing, which says plenty.
Market11 Oct 2032
The clock does Diego Serrano’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Alvarado could ask drops and the wages Diego Serrano can ask rise.
Market11 Oct 2032
The shop window has Rui Oliveira in it
Alvarado have let the market know Rui Oliveira can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Boardroom11 Oct 2032
The Alvarado academy earns its keep
53 graduates, from a department now rated 4 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2032
No end in sight to Alvarado's wait for a win
25 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alvarado has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Stifensón Pérez damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match18 Sep 2032
6 matches without a goal for Alvarado
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market20 Sep 2032
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Rui Oliveira 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 dugout20 Sep 2032
This is not rotation. Daniel Silva has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Alvarado is pretending otherwise.
Match18 Sep 2032
Gimnasia y Esgrima left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom20 Sep 2032
No signings allowed at Alvarado
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.
The dugout20 Sep 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rui Oliveira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Sep 2032
24 matches without a win for Alvarado
The run now stands at 24, and the questions being asked around Alvarado are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Sep 2032
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market13 Sep 2032
Daniel Silva 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 Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Match11 Sep 2032
The goals have deserted Alvarado
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Alvarado can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad13 Sep 2032
Germán Cervera 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 ratings13 Sep 2032
Raudy Guerrero ran the middle of the pitch — 6.80
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.80, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout13 Sep 2032
The team sheet said everything about Rui Oliveira
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Rui Oliveira.
The dugout13 Sep 2032
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout13 Sep 2032
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Aug 2032
No end in sight to Alvarado's wait for a win
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alvarado has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Aug 2032
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alvarado lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market23 Aug 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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Aug 2032
This is not rotation. Daniel Silva has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Alvarado is pretending otherwise.
Match21 Aug 2032
Ferrocarril Midland left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom23 Aug 2032
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.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Words exchanged at Alvarado
Stifensón Pérez 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 dugout23 Aug 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raudy Guerrero, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Aug 2032
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2032
The wait goes on for Alvarado
17 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.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Stifensón Pérez damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom2 Aug 2032
The scrutiny sharpens at Alvarado
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Alvarado is running low.
Market2 Aug 2032
Daniel Silva 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 Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout2 Aug 2032
Jose Cordova: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alvarado have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Aug 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rui Oliveira commits to Alvarado for another 3 years.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Rui Oliveira in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2032
Alvarado asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom2 Aug 2032
Wages swallow 211% of the Alvarado 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Jul 2032
The wait goes on for Alvarado
16 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.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market26 Jul 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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom26 Jul 2032
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Alvarado until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2032
No thanks: Gael Silva rejects the move
Alvarado had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Racing Club, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Words exchanged at Alvarado
Germán Cervera 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.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Alvarado is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Boardroom26 Jul 2032
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Bautista Bruno has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Alvarado have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2032
Alvarado asked and Talleres said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jun 2032
The wait goes on for Alvarado
10 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.
Match22 Jun 2032
Nowhere to hide for Alvarado
0‑3 against Excursionistas, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad28 Jun 2032
There were 7 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 ratings28 Jun 2032
Marked 7.73 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Jun 2032
The medical room confirms 38 days on the sidelines for Santiago Gutiérrez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Alvarado have done the hard part with Racing Club, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
Alvarado asked and Comunicaciones said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Marcelo Barisic 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 dugout28 Jun 2032
This is not rotation. Daniel Silva has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Alvarado is pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Feb 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alvarado will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Cristian Gorgerino 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.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Marcelo Barisic 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.
Player ratings23 Feb 2032
Raudy Guerrero did the work nobody counts — 6.77
9 combined actions and 6.77. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match21 Feb 2032
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Alvarado had all but put away. Güemes will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
Marcelo Barisic dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match21 Feb 2032
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Market23 Feb 2032
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Alvarado money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Dec 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Nov 2031
The wait goes on for Alvarado
7 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.
Match29 Nov 2031
Alvarado cannot find the net
6 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.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Words at Alvarado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Barisic 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.
Match29 Nov 2031
0‑1 to Ferrocarril Midland, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Cristian Gorgerino is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Silva, and the manager let it.
Market1 Dec 2031
The name of Santiago Gutiérrez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Alvarado say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Oct 2031
It had gone 18 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market6 Oct 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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Cristian Gorgerino 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.
Match4 Oct 2031
A 2‑1 win over Güemes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad6 Oct 2031
6 new faces, and Alvarado are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Silva, and the manager let it.