Marked for Agustín Buffa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Agustín Buffa 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Wanderers
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Alberti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Wanderers
14 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Agustín Buffa gets picked when it counts
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 Agustín Buffa is on it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Sergi Oriol's mistake
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
15 days out for Mathias Gonzalez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wanderers will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Wanderers
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Wanderers are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Wanderers
José Alberti 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Alberti, and the manager let it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Formiliano 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 54. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Agustín Buffa decides it from twelve yards
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match26 Aug 2026
Wanderers march on in the cup
Danubio are out and Wanderers go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Mathias Gonzalez out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wanderers will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Esteban Crucci at 20 — 7.88
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Esteban Crucci did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad31 Aug 2026
José Alberti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan García 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabricio Formiliano, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Aug 2026
Wanderers through in the cup
A 0‑2 win over Boston River, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 Aug 2026
Wanderers through in the cup
A 2‑0 win over Boston River, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad24 Aug 2026
29 days out for Mathias Gonzalez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wanderers will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nahuel Furtado wants continental football; whether Wanderers can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Jonathan Urretaviscaya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Wanderers
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Alberti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Nicolás Queiroz at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Wanderers.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
A costly moment from Sergi Oriol
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The dugout
Mauricio Gómez dropped after a run of poor form
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. 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.
Match12 Aug 2026
A 3‑0 win over Uruguay Montevideo, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad17 Aug 2026
36 days out for Mathias Gonzalez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wanderers will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.08 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad17 Aug 2026
José Alberti 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Matías Alegría
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Wanderers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Formiliano 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.