Marked for Fabrizio Correa
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Juventud may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Juventud
Rodrigo Chagas 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Fabrizio Correa
“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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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 Marcelo Sanchez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Patricio Pernicone'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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Juventud
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A mark of 4.97 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2027
Defensor Sporting next, and one man in the Juventud dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Juventud
Rodrigo Chagas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Larregui, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Juventud training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Morosini 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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Agustín Rodríguez’s exile
12 goals in 30 games at Atlas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Juventud updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
7.61, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Juventud had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Fabrizio Correa asks for a word with the manager
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match10 Apr 2027
Point won or two lost for Juventud?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Progreso? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Apr 2027
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Bruno Larregui was at the centre of it, Wanderers were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Bruno Larregui: 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.” Juventud have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Julian Brandes is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juventud this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Apr 2027
A 4‑2 win over Wanderers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
At 23 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
David Morosini 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
José María Herrera was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Paulinho keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Juventud may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A brace, and Fernando Mimbacas takes the afternoon — 8.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernando Mimbacas provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match6 Mar 2027
It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juventud this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Facundo Barceló and Juventud agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match6 Mar 2027
A 2‑1 win over Albion, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ramiro Peralta has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emanuel Cecchini, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Juventud have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match27 Feb 2027
7 matches without a win for Juventud
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Juventud are no longer polite ones.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Rodrigo Chagas 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Danubio, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Juventud
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Morosini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Juventud are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Fabrizio Correa
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Alejo Cruz is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alejo Cruz has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 0‑2 Marcelo Sanchez left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juventud this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
Business is business: Gonzalo Gómez goes
Danubio paid $560.0K and Juventud took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Juventud asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Patricio Pernicone 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Too much change too quickly at Juventud
7 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Geiner Martínez
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
19 appearances at Atlas and the goals keep coming. Juventud are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market4 Jan 2027
Renzo Rabino 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 Juventud can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Talavera wanted more than $2.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Rodrigo Chagas 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Julian Brandes is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market4 Jan 2027
Business is business: Iván González goes
Sud America paid $110.0K and Juventud took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lanús have kept their man, and Juventud go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fabrizio Correa commits to Juventud for another 3 years.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Patricio Pernicone 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.