Marked for Facundo Suárez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Oct 2033
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Independiente Rivadavia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 Oct 2033
16 days out for Facundo Suárez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Independiente Rivadavia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout10 Oct 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Oct 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Oct 2033
Lautaro Torres Calderón 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.
Squad10 Oct 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezequiel Naya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Oct 2033
The manager makes an example of Kleyder Barreto
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market10 Oct 2033
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Independiente Rivadavia, another week without a signature from Enzo Vlaeminch.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Oct 2033
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Independiente Rivadavia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match1 Oct 2033
Beaten 0‑5 by Tigre, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match1 Oct 2033
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
Match3 Oct 2033
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad3 Oct 2033
A fracture rules Facundo Suárez out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Independiente Rivadavia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout3 Oct 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market3 Oct 2033
Only the photograph left for Lucas Palma
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Palma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Oct 2033
Lautaro Torres Calderón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Oct 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezequiel Naya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Sep 2033
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Sep 2033
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match24 Sep 2033
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 Sep 2033
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Sep 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Sep 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Sep 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Córdoba 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.
Match24 Sep 2033
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Sarmiento scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout26 Sep 2033
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Sep 2033
Jeferson Caraballo damages knee ligaments — 63 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Sep 2033
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.
Market19 Sep 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match17 Sep 2033
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Independiente Rivadavia are no longer polite ones.
Market19 Sep 2033
Lucas Palma 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 Independiente Rivadavia can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout19 Sep 2033
“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.
Boardroom19 Sep 2033
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Felipe Villarreal has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Lautaro Torres Calderón 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Sep 2033
Jeferson Caraballo damages knee ligaments — 70 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
Squad12 Sep 2033
A fracture rules Facundo Suárez out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Independiente Rivadavia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match10 Sep 2033
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Sep 2033
Lautaro Torres Calderón 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.
Squad12 Sep 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezequiel Naya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Sep 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Torres Calderón, and the manager let it.
Match10 Sep 2033
0‑1 to Gimnasia La Plata, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.