Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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 name of Valentín Blanco has come up in conversations Almagro were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
In brief
SquadDefences have started doubling up on Enzo Martínez
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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. Defensa y Justicia have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
San Martín next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Almagro have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Iván Lucero 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. José Luis Varela 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Segundo Fernández scored, was marked 7.88, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez 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. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Iago Arévalo 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.
Boca Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Position 3, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Leguisamón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and Rosario Central said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 18 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Almagro asked and Vélez said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almagro has been clear about where Gianluca Motta stands, which is more than many ever get.
The phone has started ringing about Valentín Blanco again, and this time the name on the line is Gimnasia y Esgrima. Almagro are listening politely and promising nothing.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
14 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad26 May 2031
Enzo Martínez 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Almagro will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Half the programme played, position 3, 36 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valentín Blanco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Almagro and Central Córdoba SdE, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 2, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Leguisamón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Almagro did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 May 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Instituto go through and Almagro go home, 0‑7 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
0-7, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Almagro and Instituto in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Enzo Martínez 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.
Juan Leguisamón 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.
Damián London wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Damián London found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gimnasia y Tiro went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valentín Blanco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Iago Arévalo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
Enzo Martínez is still being punished for one mistake
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Almagro is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.44 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Vidal is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Benicio Pérez. 2‑1 against Racing, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.38. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Almagro.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
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.” Benjamín Ojeda, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valentín Blanco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gino Barbieri 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Gino Barbieri is on it.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
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.” Benjamín Ojeda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Maipú? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Leguisamón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Almagro the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.50 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Gino Barbieri 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Juan Leguisamón 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emiliano González signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.52 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Juan Leguisamón 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.
He is 19 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.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Almagro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gino Barbieri 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 Feb 2031
Enzo Martínez 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezequiel Cabrera and Almagro agree another 3 years.
Player ratings24 Feb 2031
Iago Arévalo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.37, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Iván Pereyra, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22
A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Almagro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.37 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Colegiales will replay every second of the added time for a week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almagro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Enzo Martínez 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.
Three points for Almagro, 2‑1 the final word against Colegiales in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces10 Feb 2031
Almagro supporters have found a favourite in Lucho
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucho 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.
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings3 Feb 2031
A brace, and Damián London takes the afternoon — 8.77
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Damián London provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Damián London. 2‑1 against Tristán Suárez, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Felipe Galimidi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Almagro is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gino Barbieri 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramiro Zotelo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Almagro could ask drops and the wages Juan Leguisamón can ask rise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Almagro 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 Almagro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Juan Leguisamón has agreed terms with Independiente Rivadavia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iago Arévalo and Almagro agree another 4 years.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Enzo Martínez 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 Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutEnzo Martínez has become a man the manager trusts
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Almagro will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Almagro asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Enzo Martínez 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Almagro opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Segundo Fernández stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Unión de Santa Fe have accepted the money. What Almagro do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Almagro had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Estudiantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Riestra have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Matías Salgado has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Almagro will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Juan Leguisamón is still in the building
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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 medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Almagro have done the hard part with Colón, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Gino Barbieri 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 Dec 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and San Martín SJ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Almagro are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Almagro people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Gino Barbieri 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 Dec 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and Barracas Central said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
14 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almagro has been clear about where Juan Leguisamón stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramiro Zotelo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have shaken hands with Colón; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Everything agreed with Instituto, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosario Central have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Almagro are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Ignacio Huanca is in the works
The dugoutRamiro Zotelo knocks on the manager’s door
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Gino Barbieri 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 Dec 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Segundo Fernández has his answer from Almagro; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Almagro will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Enzo Martínez 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 words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Rodrigo Ruiz 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 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Almagro could ask drops and the wages Rodrigo Ruiz can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramiro Zotelo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Enzo Martínez 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 words a physio says slowly. 86 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.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Enzo Martínez’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Julián Suárez on the training pitch
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Damián London 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
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 Gino Barbieri is on it.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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 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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Almagro would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 56 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almagro can pretend not to have heard.
Rodrigo Ruiz 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.
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
Player ratingsIago Arévalo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutRodrigo Ruiz knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro 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 Enzo Martínez 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.” Benjamín Ojeda after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.94, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Damián London. 3‑2 against Arsenal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Gino Barbieri 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.
All Boys left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Damián London has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Damián London and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Enzo Martínez 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. Gimnasia y Tiro had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Benjamín Ojeda after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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 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.
“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.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Almagro could ask drops and the wages Rodrigo Ruiz can ask rise.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Almagro have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
In brief
Player ratingsIván Pereyra changes it off the bench
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.46 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Iago Arévalo at his very best
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Almagro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He is 18, he is averaging 6.53, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Central Córdoba SdE have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Iago Arévalo 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Almagro have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Almagro 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.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Julián Vitale has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑4 to Mitre, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Banfield is saying, and nobody at Almagro is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Almagro can tell you which week it ends in.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Almagro people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almagro can pretend not to have heard.
Almagro asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
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 Benjamín Ojeda to a room that had heard them before.
The offer from Racing for Julián Vitale was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Colón; Almagro go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
The deal with San Lorenzo 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.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Almagro asked and Atlético Tucumán 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Julián Vitale again, and this time the name on the line is Racing. Almagro are listening politely and promising nothing.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Racing Club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Damián London. 2‑0 against Atlanta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Damián London at his very best
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at River Plate is saying, and nobody at Almagro is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Almagro will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Gino Barbieri 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almagro asked and Unión de Santa Fe said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Minute 92, against Tristán Suárez, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Almagro have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Gino Barbieri 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Enzo Martínez. 1‑0 against Madryn, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad20 May 2030
Getting past Emiliano González 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Benjamín Ojeda could afford to be generous.
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.
Damián London 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.25, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings6 May 2030
A brace, and Brandon Ríos takes the afternoon — 9.05
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Brandon Ríos provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad6 May 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Brandon Ríos 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.
3 goals inside twenty minutes with Brandon Ríos in the middle of it, and Arsenal unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Emiliano González now has 50 of them across 204 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Gimnasia y Tiro, and it could have been more.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
A brace, and Enzo Martínez takes the afternoon — 8.50
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Enzo Martínez provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 Almagro 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Benjamín Ojeda on a 4‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
SquadGetting past Emiliano González has become the hardest job in the division
Player ratingsIago Arévalo beats them one at a time
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Benjamín Ruiz
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iago Arévalo. 1‑0 against San Miguel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 16. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Brandon Ríos 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.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 17 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.
Marked 8.65. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Almagro.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
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.” Benjamín Ojeda, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Benjamín Ojeda on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Julián Suárez commits to Almagro for another 3 years.
The dugout18 Mar 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.” Benjamín Ojeda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Mitre defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Iago Arévalo 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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout11 Mar 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.” Benjamín Ojeda chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
At 23 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Almagro have a decision that made itself.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamín Ojeda after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad4 Mar 2030
A place in the month's best eleven for Enzo Martínez
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Enzo Martínez has come out of that comparison in the side, and Almagro have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.35 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Martín Herrera. 2‑0 against Los Andes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Iago Arévalo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Almagro needing him to play as if none of it matters.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.41 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Enzo Martínez 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almagro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Brandon Ríos 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.
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.
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.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fideo 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Carlos Sosa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Enzo Ruiz 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mingo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Almagro the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
39 graduates, from a department now rated 4 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almagro asked and Instituto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everything was agreed with Atlético Tucumán and then the doctor spoke. Almagro have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Miguel have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Almagro are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 5 on 63 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Julián Vitale’s negotiating for him
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.
Almagro had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Banfield, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almagro has been clear about where Ramiro Zotelo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Almagro and Temperley have settled on $71.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Vélez is saying, and nobody at Almagro is enjoying the guessing.
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and All Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Benicio Pérez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Almagro and Newell's Old Boys have settled on $19.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Deportivo Riestra is saying, and nobody at Almagro is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Almagro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almagro has been clear about where Axel Pedrozo stands, which is more than many ever get.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Almagro are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Almagro have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Almagro asked and San Miguel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Deportivo Riestra: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Gino Barbieri 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.
Almagro asked and Güemes 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Atlético Tucumán have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almagro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
In brief
The dugoutLuis Acosta knocks on the manager’s door
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almagro lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enzo Martínez signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
BoardroomThe Almagro production line keeps running
Gino Barbieri 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 Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Enzo Martínez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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 Thiago López is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almagro can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almagro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Enzo Martínez 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.
Damián London 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enzo Martínez signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
39 graduates, from a department now rated 4 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Enzo Martínez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 5 on 63 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Martínez 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.
Cristian Fernández 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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Almagro would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Somebody from San Lorenzo has seen every one of Felipe Galimidi’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Almagro knows it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Tobías Macies
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Martínez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enzo Martínez signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Almagro has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Enzo Martínez has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Gino Barbieri 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
Enzo Martínez 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.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Almagro had all but put away. Alvarado will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
A 2‑2 draw with Alvarado leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
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.” Benjamín Ojeda chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Enzo Martínez 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamín Ojeda after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Almagro 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Enzo Martínez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Almagro needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Damián London 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A brace, and Enzo Martínez takes the afternoon — 8.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Enzo Martínez provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almagro can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Enzo Martínez 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Axel Pedrozo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The first defeat in 11 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against All Boys; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Enzo Martínez 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 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.
Cristian Fernández 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.
Gino Barbieri 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.
He is 22 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Gimnasia y Tiro had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Almagro have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Benjamín Ojeda. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
Gino Barbieri 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
Enzo Martínez 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 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.