107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Miramar Misiones lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Miramar Misiones has to find a result from somewhere.
Mateo Argüello 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Miramar Misiones lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mateo Argüello 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.
3 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.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Miramar Misiones where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Terremoto until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
The dugout7 Apr 2036
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 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ignacio Alvarez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutMateo Argüello asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThiago Torres dropped after a run of poor form
Looking aheadMiramar Misiones take on the side everybody is chasing
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.
“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 Miramar Misiones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Miramar Misiones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Adriano Martínez 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Santiago Aguirre 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Emiliano Ugarte is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Porley 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.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Miramar Misiones lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Bella Vista for Erick Nunez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Miramar Misiones will try again when the window opens; Plaza Colonia may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Porley 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Erick Nunez has his answer from Miramar Misiones; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Axel Pandiani signs something — a contract at Miramar Misiones or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Andres Rios is on it.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Miramar Misiones lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Miramar Misiones can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Miramar Misiones is running low.
$710.0K on the table at Penarol. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Everybody at Miramar Misiones saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The phone has started ringing about Martín García again, and this time the name on the line is Rampla Juniors. Miramar Misiones are listening politely and promising nothing.
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Miramar Misiones lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Miramar Misiones have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Miramar Misiones have done the hard part with Penarol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Miramar Misiones can pretend not to have heard.
Miramar Misiones have gone to Cooper with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Miramar Misiones is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Miramar Misiones asked and Boca Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Adriano Martínez 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 name of Martín García has come up in conversations Miramar Misiones were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 18-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.
“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 Miramar Misiones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mateo Argüello 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Porley 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.
Miramar Misiones have made the call to San Lorenzo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Miramar Misiones lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Pandiani and Miramar Misiones agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Porley 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Miramar Misiones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Porley 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.
Kevin Silva 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.
Everybody at Miramar Misiones saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
At 18 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Miramar Misiones will try not to make too much of it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Miramar Misiones, another week without a signature from Alejandro Elduayen.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Thiago Porley 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Felipe Igón signs something — a contract at Miramar Misiones or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Caceres knocks on the manager's door
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Alvarez and Miramar Misiones agree another 4 years.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Miramar Misiones has been clear about where Martín García stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Miramar Misiones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Miramar Misiones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín García will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Miramar Misiones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mateo Argüello 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 young player of the month award goes to a 17-year-old at Miramar Misiones who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thiago Porley was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Miguel Ángel García has come out of that comparison in the side, and Miramar Misiones have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Miramar Misiones have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
4 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.
Liverpool Montevideo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Abdoulaye Sow has pre-agreed a move to Miramar Misiones, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Miramar Misiones ran out of time with Montevideo City Torque. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brian Caceres and Miramar Misiones agree another 4 years.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Miramar Misiones people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Miramar Misiones and Montevideo City Torque have settled on $140.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom23 Jul 2035
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Miramar Misiones 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.
The offer from La Luz for Lautaro Fernández was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Miramar Misiones had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at River Plate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Miramar Misiones asked and Nacional said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emiliano Saliadarre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Miramar Misiones has to find a result from somewhere.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Miramar Misiones can tell you which week it ends in.
Half the programme played, position 13, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Miramar Misiones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiliano Saliadarre 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Miramar Misiones told Matías Favale something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Miramar Misiones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mateo Argüello 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout16 Apr 2035
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.