From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Anger at Arsenal spills outside the ground
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Arsenal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Loan watch12 Jul 2027
The goals keep arriving from Dylan Cabral’s exile
18 goals in 17 games at Rustavi — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Arsenal updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The deal with Chaco For Ever 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atlético Tucumán keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Facundo Bruno damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Valentino Romano has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Jul 2027
Julián Vila hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
A brace, and Luca Franco takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luca Franco provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.14, and nobody on the pitch better.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Arsenal have done the hard part with Atlético Tucumán, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
16 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Madryn wanted more than $13.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Arsenal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match28 Jun 2027
Arsenal are in real trouble now
Position 17, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Jun 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexis Payes is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Vila, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Pérez 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Joaquín Ochoa Giménez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match19 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
The goals keep arriving from Dylan Cabral’s exile
13 goals in 15 games at Rustavi — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Arsenal updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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 Valentino Romano to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Anger at Arsenal spills outside the ground
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.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Pérez 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
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.
Match12 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Arsenal against Maipú
0‑2 to Maipú, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match14 Jun 2027
The half-term report on Arsenal
Position 17, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
In brief
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Boardroom
91% of the income goes out in wages at Arsenal
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Player ratings
Matías Lucero runs at them all day
-
The dugout
Julián Vila knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Valentino Romano has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Arsenal can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Jun 2027
It had gone 11 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Arsenal have done the hard part with Argentino de Quilmes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market7 Jun 2027
Central Córdoba SdE pay $1.4M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Damián Pérez 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlanta have kept their man, and Arsenal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Jun 2027
Güemes made Arsenal work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
The wait goes on for Arsenal
11 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Damián Pérez out for 14 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match31 May 2027
Arsenal are in real trouble now
Position 17, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Arsenal boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad31 May 2027
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Match29 May 2027
Gimnasia y Tiro left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 May 2027
Iván Peralta gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Mihovilcevich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 21 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Arsenal
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.
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Luca Franco takes the afternoon — 8.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luca Franco provided it, and the 8.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad24 May 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 May 2027
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.51, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Pezzini, and the manager let it.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 May 2027
The mood at Arsenal 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.
Squad17 May 2027
28 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 May 2027
The wait goes on for Arsenal
9 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.
Market17 May 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout17 May 2027
This is not rotation. Lautaro Guzmán has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Arsenal is pretending otherwise.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Lautaro Guzmán
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 35 days out
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.
Match8 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Arsenal
1‑4 against Atlanta, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match8 May 2027
Arsenal leaking at the back
10 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match8 May 2027
No end in sight to Arsenal's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market10 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 May 2027
Lautaro Guzmán 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Luca Franco
“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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
9 appearances at Rustavi and the goals keep coming. Arsenal are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nobody left the Arsenal dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Valentino Romano has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match3 May 2027
Arsenal sink to position 17
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Arsenal boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match1 May 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Arsenal
9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market3 May 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Arsenal's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match1 May 2027
Colegiales left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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The dugout
No hiding place for Julián Vila
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Squad
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match24 Apr 2027
1‑4 to Tristán Suárez, 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.
Match21 Apr 2027
The small margins put Arsenal out
Out, 0‑5 to River Plate, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match24 Apr 2027
Arsenal leaking at the back
8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Arsenal are taken apart by River Plate — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Match24 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Arsenal
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.
Market26 Apr 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
In brief
-
Squad
A falling-out at Arsenal
-
Squad
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
-
Boardroom
Doors closed at Arsenal
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces19 Apr 2027
The mood at Arsenal 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arsenal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Lautaro Guzmán has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Arsenal is pretending otherwise.
Match17 Apr 2027
Arsenal leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Arsenal's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Apr 2027
Matteo Trombini scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Alvarado, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
In brief
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The dugout
Matías Sosa gets it from the manager
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Boardroom
Wages eat 115% of everything Arsenal earn
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
63 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Arsenal leaking at the back
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 70 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Market5 Apr 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arsenal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thiago Schiavulli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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.
Looking ahead5 Apr 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Central Córdoba SdE in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 77 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Alexis Vega is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Arsenal, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nahuel Pezzini signs something — a contract at Arsenal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Uriel La Roza gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Uriel La Roza is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
84 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Arsenal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Arsenal 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
Matías Sosa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Arsenal
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 118% of everything Arsenal earn
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Damián Pérez out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Arsenal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 Mar 2027
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Arsenal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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 Mar 2027
41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match13 Mar 2027
A bad afternoon for Arsenal against Quilmes
1‑3 to Quilmes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Vila, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
Julián Lobelos decides it from twelve yards
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Squad8 Mar 2027
99 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match3 Mar 2027
Cup progress for Arsenal
A 2‑2 win over Deportivo Riestra, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad8 Mar 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Damián Pérez and Arsenal agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match6 Mar 2027
A 3‑2 win over Almagro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
He is 20 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Joaquín Ochoa Giménez in the middle of it, and Almagro unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
106 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑1 to San Miguel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Rustavi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Arsenal and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Valentino Romano left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market1 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lucas Mihovilcevich has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Arsenal.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
113 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
The mood at Arsenal 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Schiavulli 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 124% of everything Arsenal earn
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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Arsenal rescue it on 85 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Patronato had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
120 days out for Damián Pérez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Arsenal — 7.84
1 for Julián Vila, marked 7.84, 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Racing left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Pezzini, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 6.76 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Damián Pérez breaks a bone — 127 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match6 Feb 2027
Cruel end for Maipú as Arsenal pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Arsenal scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.50 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Matías Lucero: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Arsenal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Uriel La Roza, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Graduation day at Arsenal
4 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matías Sosa. 2‑1 against Maipú, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Thiago Schiavulli 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Julián Vila has moved up it.
Market1 Feb 2027
Matías Sosa linked with a move away
The name of Matías Sosa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Market1 Feb 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market1 Feb 2027
Arsenal have made Lucas Mihovilcevich available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Arsenal board
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Pérez 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 100% of the Arsenal income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Ledesma, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Julián Vila knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julián Vila trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Nahuel Pezzini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“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 Arsenal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market25 Jan 2027
The shop window has Matías Sosa in it
Arsenal have let the market know Matías Sosa can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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 Jan 2027
Damián Pérez 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market18 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lautaro Guzmán’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Julián Vila knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julián Vila trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Lautaro Guzmán 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 Jan 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Arsenal have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Thiago Schiavulli 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joaquín Galarza, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The Luca Franco talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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 Arsenal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Arsenal
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Arsenal is running low.
Market4 Jan 2027
Luca Franco hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Arsenal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matteo Trombini, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bautista Goncebat 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Matías Sosa linked with a move away
The name of Matías Sosa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Market4 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Brahian Alemán
154 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Arsenal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Anger at Arsenal spills outside the ground
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.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Dec 2026
The bid was some way short and Arsenal did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
161% of the income goes out in wages at Arsenal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahian Alemán 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Lucero, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Iván Cabrera knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Dec 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Deportivo Armenio, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Arsenal asked and Chacarita Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Dylan Cabral gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lautaro Guzmán’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market21 Dec 2026
Arsenal have made Iván Cabrera available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I want to play”: Dylan Cabral speaks
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
The paperwork begins on Erik Núñez
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Arsenal have done the hard part with Madryn, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
No thanks: Pablo Ortiz rejects the move
Arsenal had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Chacarita Juniors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Lautaro Guzmán 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Julián Vila
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bautista Goncebat 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The Luca Franco talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Lautaro Aguirre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Arsenal 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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 Arsenal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Arsenal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market7 Dec 2026
Iván Cabrera hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
This is not rotation. Valentín Serrano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Arsenal is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brahian Alemán 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Alexis Vega slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alexis Vega is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Chacarita Juniors: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Mihovilcevich, and the manager let it.
Market7 Dec 2026
The shop window has Matías Sosa in it
Arsenal have let the market know Matías Sosa can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
In brief
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Boardroom
$466.0K taken back off the Arsenal table
-
The dugout
Julián Vila asks for a word with the manager
-
Market
Matías Sosa linked with a move away
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Arsenal board
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.
Market30 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Julián Lobelos: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Arsenal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
166% of the income goes out in wages at Arsenal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Julián Vila asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Nahuel Pezzini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Market30 Nov 2026
Arsenal have made Valentín Serrano available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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 Nov 2026
Bautista Goncebat 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Alexis Payes gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lautaro Guzmán’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Lautaro Guzmán 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 Nov 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahian Alemán 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Iván Cabrera knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Luca Franco talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market16 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Iván Cabrera may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Arsenal
Damián Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Guzmán 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Iván Cabrera knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Nov 2026
Matías Sosa linked with a move away
The name of Matías Sosa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Arsenal spills outside the ground
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
Iván Cabrera hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
166% of the income goes out in wages at Arsenal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Lautaro Brienzo
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bautista Goncebat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
One of our own is behind an import at Arsenal
He is 37, he has been here since he was a boy, and the shirt he grew up expecting has been given to somebody flown in for it. That grievance belongs to the town as much as to the player.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Nahuel Pezzini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Market2 Nov 2026
Arsenal have made Valentín Serrano available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arsenal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brahian Alemán 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Arsenal
15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Mihovilcevich, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Arsenal's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Oct 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Arsenal can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Damián Pérez is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Madryn left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Iván Peralta
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Valentino Romano left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Arsenal is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bautista Goncebat 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julián Lobelos, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Julián Vila asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 Oct 2026
Matías Sosa linked with a move away
The name of Matías Sosa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Lautaro Aguirre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Arsenal 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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 Arsenal will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Arsenal
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Damián Pérez 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
206% of the income goes out in wages at Arsenal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match3 Oct 2026
Gimnasia y Tiro left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Julián Vila reaches 100 appearances
100 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Julián Vila delivers — 7.91
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Julián Vila scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nahuel Pezzini 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Arsenal
15 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Nahuel Pezzini knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Valentino Romano chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Sep 2026
“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 Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Matías Sosa scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to All Boys, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Iván Cabrera 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Valentino Romano after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Nahuel Pezzini knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Matías Sosa finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Arsenal have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Julián Vila pops up at the right end — 7.64
7.64, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A hand in 2 of them from Lautaro Guzmán — 7.92
Marked 7.92. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Match12 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Arsenal against Almagro
2‑3 to Almagro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Pérez 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Damián Pérez
“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 dugout14 Sep 2026
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 2‑3 Valentino Romano left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Joaquín Galarza
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Arsenal has been clear about where Fabricio Aguirre stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Nahuel Pezzini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.
Market7 Sep 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Valentín Serrano may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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 Matías Lucero has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market31 Aug 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Arsenal can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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 terraces31 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Arsenal, 2‑0 the final word against San Miguel in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match29 Aug 2026
The drought breaks for Arsenal
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and San Miguel were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Iván Cabrera 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Arsenal
15 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Arsenal's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Arsenal can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Lautaro Guzmán scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Patronato, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brahian Alemán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Brienzo, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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 1‑2 Valentino Romano left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Arsenal out
Out, 1‑3 to Gimnasia y Esgrima, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Arsenal
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Arsenal are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Arsenal
Nahuel Pezzini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Guzmán, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match15 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Racing defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Arsenal
Lautaro Guzmán 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Maipú left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luca Franco, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Pato joins the Arsenal first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pato is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Miguel Ángel Moretti 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Carlos Gutiérrez 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Roberto Moreno is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Iván Cabrera falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Alexis Payes is still being punished for one mistake
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The dugout
Julián Vila knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Dylan Cabral, 20, steals the show — 7.64
Marked 7.64 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lautaro Guzmán and Arsenal agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Damián Pérez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Arsenal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Guzmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Aug 2026
Dylan Cabral scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Güemes, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Pezzini, and the manager let it.
Match1 Aug 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Dylan Cabral had Arsenal level again within 1 minutes, and Güemes never got to play with a lead at all.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Lautaro Guzmán’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.