It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Agustín Martegani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Zalazar 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aldosivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Agustín Martegani 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Balanta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aldosivi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Zalazar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Federico Laurelli and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutMauro Da Luz knocks on the manager’s door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
10 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Agustín Martegani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Zalazar 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Agustín Martegani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Balanta 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.
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Arsenal? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
8 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
7 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.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
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 mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Balanta 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Independiente Rivadavia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aldosivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Agustín Martegani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Elías López 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.
“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.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 14 and 3 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.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Agustín Martegani 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Balanta 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.
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.
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Elías López 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.
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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Balanta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Cristopher Fiermarin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
8 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.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Elías López 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Sarmiento had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Aldosivi interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luis Iglesias has, at Aldosivi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barracas Central have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Chacarita Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Zalazar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aldosivi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
5 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.
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
Aldosivi close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal with Chacarita Juniors is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Damián Ramírez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 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.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Aldosivi. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Damián Ramírez has written the date down.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Interim Coach clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
The deal with Atlético Tucumán is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Agustín Martegani 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barracas Central have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Pisa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Agustín Martegani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lucas Acosta is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aldosivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Patronato waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aldosivi is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aldosivi can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aldosivi have done the hard part with Pisa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. San Telmo moved on, Justin Prada reports back to Aldosivi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Aldosivi offered $190.0K; Tigre said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 clubs have shaken hands with Atlético Tucumán; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The fee is $2.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Boca Juniors drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The deal with River Plate is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Aldosivi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Newell's Old Boys, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Franco Godoy 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 terraces17 Jun 2030
Aldosivi spend $2.0M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $2.0M for Agustín Martegani, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sevilla have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bautista Andreano 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Racing Club go through and Aldosivi go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aldosivi have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Boca Juniors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aldosivi can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justin Prada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aldosivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aldosivi can pretend not to have heard.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aldosivi have made the call to Argentinos Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Franco Godoy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aldosivi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristopher Fiermarin, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 May 2030
Somebody else is better right now than Lucas Acosta
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Thiago Cattanese obliged against Estudiantes. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Aldosivi.
Position 14 and 3 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Thiago Cattanese 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aldosivi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aldosivi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Franco Godoy 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Mauro Da Luz 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Franco Godoy’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Aldosivi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
10 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 14 and 2 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Aldosivi will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aldosivi dressing room was either.
9 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Franco Godoy 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justin Prada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aldosivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Elías López 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.
Facundo De La Vega 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.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑3 against Argentinos Juniors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
23 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Federico Laurelli 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.
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aldosivi has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces18 Feb 2030
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justin Prada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aldosivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Federico Laurelli 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 dugout18 Feb 2030
Somebody else is better right now than Lucas Acosta
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 135 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Da Luz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Feb 2030
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and the manager clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 142 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
7 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 149 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Federico Laurelli 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 157 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aldosivi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Franco Godoy 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 clock did what Atlético Tucumán would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bautista Andreano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Aldosivi ran out of time with Boca Juniors. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Elías López 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aldosivi and Boca Juniors have settled on $2.0M. 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aldosivi have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal that would have taken Damián Ramírez to Tristán Suárez has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Aldosivi with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Aldosivi will try again when the window opens; Talleres may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lisandro González and Aldosivi 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 Aldosivi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Talleres is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Franco Godoy 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 Justin Prada has come up in conversations Aldosivi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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 mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The deal with Boca Juniors is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Elías López 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.
Federico Laurelli 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.
Position 14 and 7 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aldosivi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Talleres this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Aldosivi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sarmiento, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Elías López 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomás Valentukonis and Aldosivi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boca Juniors have accepted the money. What Aldosivi do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alex Mosquera has just signed for Aldosivi, and for once the answer mattered.
Aldosivi asked and Atlético Madrid 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 Bautista Andreano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aldosivi has been clear about where Federico Laurelli stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — the manager made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
“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 Aldosivi, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Acosta and Aldosivi agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Aldosivi asked and Defensa y Justicia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Federico Laurelli 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aldosivi has been clear about where Francisco Perruzzi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Aldosivi have made the call to Atlético Madrid. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Nahuel Olmedo is in the works
The dugoutA fresh start for Lucas Rodríguez under the new man
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Federico Laurelli 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aldosivi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutAlexis Devesa asks for a word with the manager
Franco Godoy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Luján trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Franco Godoy 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Da Luz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Aldosivi told Tomás Fernández something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Lucas Rodríguez has taken the hint, and Aldosivi are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
19 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Franco Godoy 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Half-satisfied: the manager 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.
Something was said to Tomás Valentukonis and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Simón Sammarone'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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Atlético Tucumán? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
18 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.
1‑4 to Barracas Central, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Position 14 and 6 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.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Elías López 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.
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.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
the manager answers for it
“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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Franco Godoy 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Fernando Alonso 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roberto Cohen 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrés Herrera 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.
In brief
MarketOne of our own: Guapo joins the Aldosivi first team
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Franco Godoy 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Elías López 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.
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.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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 1‑4 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
14 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Position 13 and 5 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Elías López 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.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Racing Club left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Getting past Lucas Acosta has become the hardest job in the division
10 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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 dugout17 Sep 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Rodríguez'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.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
12 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.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Half-satisfied: the manager 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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aldosivi can tell you which week it ends in.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexis Devesa commits to Aldosivi for another 4 years.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Getting past Lucas Acosta has become the hardest job in the division
9 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Lucas Acosta has given nobody the chance.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
the manager on the point
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” the manager after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Cristopher Fiermarin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Federico Laurelli and Aldosivi agree another 3 years.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Acosta signs something — a contract at Aldosivi 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 Felipe Anso is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cristopher Fiermarin has written the date down.
8 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.
Franco Godoy 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Da Luz 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 dugout6 Aug 2029
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
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.
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.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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. Aldosivi told Nicolás Zalazar something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Lucas Rodríguez
6 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.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Aldosivi 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.
Aldosivi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Juventus, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Elías López 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.
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 dugout23 Jul 2029
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by the manager to a room that had heard them before.
Aldosivi and Estudiantes have settled on $2.6M. 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.
“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 Aldosivi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Franco Godoy 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Acosta signs something — a contract at Aldosivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Elías López’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Aldosivi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Felipe Anso is on it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Damián Ramírez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Rodríguez'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.
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 Bautista Andreano is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bautista Andreano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Cristopher Fiermarin 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Elías López 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.
Aldosivi have made the call to Fiorentina. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
5 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.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Aldosivi have gone to Estudiantes 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.
The chase for Cristopher Fiermarin ended with $860.0K changing hands and Defensa y Justicia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Giovanni Albornoz has, at Aldosivi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thomas Jaimes and Aldosivi agree another 4 years.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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.
Nobody at Aldosivi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aldosivi have done the hard part with Defensa y Justicia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Borussia Dortmund have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Aldosivi are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Acosta signs something — a contract at Aldosivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Aldosivi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Luján trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have shaken hands with Estudiantes; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
5 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Elías López 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.
Aldosivi asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Mauro Da Luz 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.
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 Bautista Andreano is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aldosivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 May 2029
Elías López 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.
Gabriel Paredes 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.75 for the rest of it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Da Luz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutthe manager faces the questions
The dugoutFranco Godoy asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Gabriel Paredes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 May 2029
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Barracas Central defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1 for Simón Sammarone, marked 7.28, 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutMauro Da Luz has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Felipe Anso was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. 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.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Gabriel Paredes 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aldosivi dressing room was either.
Sarmiento next, and one man in the Aldosivi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Aldosivi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
7.89, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Aldosivi had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” the manager, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Franco Godoy 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 easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Perruzzi and Aldosivi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Gabriel Paredes 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
the manager answers for it
“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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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 finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
the manager: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Lucas Rodríguez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Aldosivi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Franco Godoy 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Cédric Nuozzi 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Elías López commits to Aldosivi for another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
A satisfied the manager
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, the manager could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Elías López 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aldosivi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Paredes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
BoardroomThe Aldosivi production line keeps running
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Elías López 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.
Facundo De La Vega 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
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 the manager 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aldosivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Aldosivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elías López 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pulga has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Federico Ferrari 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aldosivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Nahuel Arce 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aldosivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Santiago Filippini 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aldosivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aldosivi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barracas Central have kept their man, and Aldosivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Aldosivi told Agustín Rodríguez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simón Sammarone trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Gabriel Paredes is still in the building
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aldosivi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Santiago Filippini is living that version at Aldosivi, and it tends to show in the first month.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Santiago Filippini and Aldosivi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Franco Godoy 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Lucas Rodríguez's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Lautaro Chávez has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aldosivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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.
The terraces1 Jan 2029
The mood at Aldosivi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aldosivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aldosivi asked and Notts County said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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.