He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Atlético Tucumán can tell you which week it ends in.
Atlético Tucumán 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Escudero 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: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I watch every Atlético Tucumán game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Los Angeles Football Club runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Atlético Tucumán are still learning each other
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mauro Carrizo
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atlético Tucumán have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Argentinos Juniors is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Patronato have kept their man, and Atlético Tucumán go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Escudero 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.
Atlético Tucumán have made the call to São Paulo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlético Tucumán people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Atlético Tucumán and Gimnasia La Plata have settled on $290.0K. 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlético Tucumán have done the hard part with Grêmio, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Racing Club 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 had been thinking. Gonzalo Escudero 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Atlético Tucumán, and 7 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonzalo Escudero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Máximo Gómez and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Colegiales is saying, and nobody at Atlético Tucumán is enjoying the guessing.
The fee is $210.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Huracán drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
0‑2, and a season that ran to May has ended inside a fortnight. This is what a playoff is: nine months of work settled by a couple of evenings, and nobody who designed it was thinking about the losing dressing room.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Maximiliano Alanís again, and this time the name on the line is Atlanta. Atlético Tucumán are listening politely and promising nothing.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Nueva Chicago 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 watch every Atlético Tucumán game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Los Angeles Football Club runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonzalo Escudero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ezequiel Godoy scored, was marked 7.36, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The goal that put Godoy Cruz ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Atlético Tucumán equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexis Rad and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maximiliano Salas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
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.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gianluca Ferrari 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 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 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Atlético Tucumán will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The dugout8 May 2028
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 Bautista Ortiz left the room before anybody could ask which.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joel Ortiz did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Gianluca Ferrari 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 21 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Carlos Abeldaño is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezequiel Godoy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It is not 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Abeldaño 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.
“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 dugout17 Apr 2028
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.” Bautista Ortiz, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Leonel Di Plácido 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lautaro Godoy. 1‑0 against River Plate, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bautista Ortiz on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gastón Nazar 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mateo Bajamich’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Leonel Di Plácido 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.
A 1‑0 win over Argentinos Juniors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezequiel Godoy 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Bautista Ortiz could afford to be generous.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlético Tucumán, another week without a signature from Nicolás Laméndola.
In brief
Looking aheadAtlético Tucumán take on the side everybody is chasing
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlético Tucumán people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Abeldaño 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Bajamich signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mateo Coronel’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlético Tucumán, another week without a signature from Braian Mamani.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán has to find a result from somewhere.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Pablo Valdez and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The 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 Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
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 Bautista Ortiz left the room before anybody could ask which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aldosivi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Abeldaño 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.
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Atlético Tucumán will try not to make too much of it.
A 1‑1 draw with Sarmiento leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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.” Bautista Ortiz chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maximiliano Villa has his answer from Atlético Tucumán; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Banfield left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Bautista Ortiz left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón Nazar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lautaro Godoy. 2‑0 against Gimnasia La Plata, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
Looking aheadAtlético Tucumán take on the side everybody is chasing
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, 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 Atlético Tucumán 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 Carlos Abeldaño was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bautista Ortiz after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
At 20 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Felipe Domínguez 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Liam Herrera is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Escudero 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Bajamich signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“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 offer from Persik for Tomás Villagra 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.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Salas 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlético Tucumán, another week without a signature from Nicolás Laméndola.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Laméndola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Luciano Vallejo is on it.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Santino Gallia on the training pitch
“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 Atlético Tucumán, 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 Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexis Rad and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Atlético Tucumán have no good answer.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Patricio Albornoz reports back to Atlético Tucumán with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlos Abeldaño and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Something was said to Maximiliano Villa and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlético Tucumán know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Chapecoense for Maximiliano Alanís 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.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Atlético Tucumán had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
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.
37 appearances and 25 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Carlos Abeldaño 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.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ramiro Paunero 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.
Clever Ferreira 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 had been thinking. Maximiliano Salas 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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Atlético Tucumán had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with River Plate is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alex Soria 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.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 phone has started ringing about Leonel Vega again, and this time the name on the line is Independiente. Atlético Tucumán are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mauricio Carrizo has agreed terms with Villa San Carlos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Tigre paid $560.0K and Atlético Tucumán took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and 7 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Clever Ferreira 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Ferro Carril Oeste 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Atlético Tucumán, and 18 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
Ferro Carril Oeste 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.
A loan enquiry to Gimnasia y Esgrima: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Vega will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Tucumán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Braian Mamani is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Kevin Ortiz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leandro Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Jung 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 Patricio Albornoz is on it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Atlético Tucumán would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.78, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Vega will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Tucumán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Manuel Brondo in the middle of it, and Tigre unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Marked 8.09 — 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 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz 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: Manuel Brondo. 1‑0 against Sarmiento, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Clever Ferreira's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Bautista Ortiz kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
20 goals in 30 games at Guarani — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lautaro Godoy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Bajamich signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Leandro Díaz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Atlético Tucumán that is a harder question to answer.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Leandro Díaz 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 Oct 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
“I watch every Atlético Tucumán game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Union Espanola runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlético Tucumán know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Atlético Tucumán have no good answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlético Tucumán they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
18 goals in 29 games at Guarani — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leandro Díaz and Atlético Tucumán agree another 2 years.
Clever Ferreira 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 had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Fabricio Bedmar has agreed terms with Tigre for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Bautista Ortiz could afford to be generous.
Position 14 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gianluca Ferrari and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
Marked 7.74 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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 dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Kevin Ortiz's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Leandro Díaz 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 had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Leandro Díaz 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Vega will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Tucumán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Leandro Díaz 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.
16 goals in 25 games at Guarani — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
“I watch every Atlético Tucumán game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Patronato runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joel Ortiz and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Mateo Coronel
The dugoutManuel Brondo has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Laméndola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Bautista Ortiz was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Atlético Tucumán dressing room was either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomás Durso signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Independiente Rivadavia spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Mateo Coronel 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 makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Atlético Tucumán will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Braian Mamani and Atlético Tucumán agree another 5 years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán has to find a result from somewhere.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Axel Afonso 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Leonel Di Plácido 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán has to find a result from somewhere.
16 goals in 21 games at Guarani — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giovanni González and Atlético Tucumán agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giovanni González and Atlético Tucumán agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlético Tucumán people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Atlético Tucumán close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Leandro Díaz 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 had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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. Huracán have kept their man, and Atlético Tucumán go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Patricio Albornoz again, and this time the name on the line is Patronato. Atlético Tucumán are listening politely and promising nothing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Iraklis for Tomás Durso 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Gastón Nazar had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Botafogo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Clever Ferreira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Boca 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mateo Coronel 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Racing Club 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 name of Thiago Delgado has come up in conversations Atlético Tucumán were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Atlético Tucumán have made the call to Botafogo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atlético Tucumán will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlético Tucumán people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Hapoel Tel Aviv for Tomás Villagra 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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. Cruzeiro have kept their man, and Atlético Tucumán go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Curicó Unido waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Atlético Tucumán is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The chase for Tomás Villagra ended with $410.0K changing hands and Defensa y Justicia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Clever Ferreira 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 Kevin Ortiz 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. River Plate have kept their man, and Atlético Tucumán go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Manuel Brondo obliged against Banfield. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Atlético Tucumán.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atlético Tucumán will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Unión San Felipe for Martín Benítez 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.
The deal with Defensa y Justicia 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.
The fee is $200.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Racing Club drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Leandro Díaz 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Atlético Tucumán training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Atlético Tucumán have made the call to Cruzeiro. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
0‑3 to Aldosivi, 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Leonel Di Plácido 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.96, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlético Tucumán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Leandro Díaz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutLeandro Díaz is still being punished for one mistake
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.43 for the rest of it.
3 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Atlético Tucumán and Sarmiento in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
A 4‑2 win over Sarmiento, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 May 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Lautaro Godoy at his very best
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 Manuel Brondo is on it.
Sarmiento next, and one man in the Atlético Tucumán dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A 1‑0 win over Sportivo Italiano, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Gastón Nazar, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Gastón Nazar 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Bautista Ortiz could afford to be generous.
Leandro Díaz 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 won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.32, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Minute 88, against Huracán, 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.
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.
0‑4 against River Plate, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 Atlético Tucumán can tell you which week it ends in.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martín Ortega and Atlético Tucumán agree another 5 years.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bautista Ortiz after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Clever Ferreira 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 had been thinking. Luciano Vallejo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
Argentinos Juniors next, and one man in the Atlético Tucumán dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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 Atlético Tucumán will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
0‑3 to Barracas Central, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Atlético Tucumán told Nicolás Laméndola something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maximiliano Villa has his answer from Atlético Tucumán; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutLeandro Díaz asks for a word with the manager
Player ratingsManuel Brondo beats them one at a time
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“I watch every Atlético Tucumán game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Guarani runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leandro Díaz and Atlético Tucumán agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lautaro Godoy is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
29 goals in 27 games at Queretaro — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Leandro Díaz 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 had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juan Infante 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.
26 appearances at Queretaro and the goals keep coming. Atlético Tucumán are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Godoy takes the afternoon — 8.05
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Godoy provided it, and the 8.05 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 Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz 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.
25 appearances away from home and 26 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A brace, and Manuel Brondo takes the afternoon — 9.01
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Manuel Brondo provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Manuel Brondo. 3‑2 against Racing Club, 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. Lautaro Godoy 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.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
Lautaro Godoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martín Castro 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.
Clever Ferreira 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 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 captaincy has been taken off Leandro Díaz. Atlético Tucumán will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kevin Ortiz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Atlético Tucumán. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Maximiliano Alanís had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Leandro Díaz 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Atlético Mineiro 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Vallejo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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. Atlético Tucumán know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
22 goals in 21 games at Queretaro — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Bahia 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 name of Maximiliano Alanís has come up in conversations Atlético Tucumán were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Kevin Ortiz 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.” Maximiliano Villa and Atlético Tucumán agree another 3 years.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Martín Benítez is still in the building
Position 14 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlético Tucumán have done the hard part with River Plate, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. German Vallejo 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.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Thomas Rearte has agreed terms with Villa Dálmine for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlético Tucumán is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Leonel Di Plácido and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlético Mineiro have kept their man, and Atlético Tucumán go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
16 games, 5 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Atlético Tucumán now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Nobody at Atlético Tucumán 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.
18 goals in 17 games at Queretaro — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Newell's Old Boys pay $1.5M, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Atlético Mineiro is saying, and nobody at Atlético Tucumán is enjoying the guessing.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlético Tucumán they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Renzo Tesuri has gone, the accounts have $5.1M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Vélez paid $5.1M and Atlético Tucumán took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atlético Mineiro keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ramiro González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Tucumán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 goals in 16 games at Queretaro — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Atlético Tucumán asked and Fluminense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Position 14 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlético Tucumán have done the hard part with Bragantino, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Leandro Díaz 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 had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Luis Ingolotti is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Leandro Díaz 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 goals in 14 games at Queretaro — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Atlético Tucumán updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atlético Tucumán. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ezequiel Godoy and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Lautaro Godoy has written the date down.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlético Tucumán is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Ferrari 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 Manuel Brondo is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luis Ingolotti signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Luis Ingolotti has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlético Tucumán they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Infante and Atlético Tucumán agree another 4 years.
Leandro Díaz 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Clever Ferreira 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 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Cristian Menéndez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Martín Ortega 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.” Atlético Tucumán have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
16 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 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlético Tucumán have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlético Tucumán they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Leandro Díaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kevin Ortiz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luis Ingolotti signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Gabriel Compagnucci has written the date down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Tucumán can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luciano Vallejo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Tucumán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Tobías Oscari 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.
Leandro Díaz 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Vallejo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atlético Tucumán. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
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.
Leandro Díaz 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 had been thinking. Gianluca Ferrari 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Leonel Di Plácido has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Bautista Ortiz to a room that had heard them before.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.64 for the rest of 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 Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ortiz 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.
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.
Something was said to Leandro Díaz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad28 Sep 2026
16 new faces, and Atlético Tucumán are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 Bautista Ortiz to a room that had heard them before.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Martín Ortega 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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Leandro Díaz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luis Ingolotti signs something — a contract at Atlético Tucumán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Atlético Tucumán, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlético Tucumán is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Luciano Vallejo 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.
Leandro Díaz 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 Sep 2026
Kevin Ortiz 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.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Leonel Di Plácido 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 Kevin Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Martín Benítez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Leandro Díaz
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Leandro Díaz has come out of that comparison in the side, and Atlético Tucumán have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Tucumán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Manuel Brondo is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Manuel Brondo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atlético Tucumán needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Gareji Sagarejo pay $1.1M, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Tucumán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 6.85 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
17 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bautista Ortiz after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
2 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.
Sportivo Italiano are out and Atlético Tucumán go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Leandro Díaz was at the centre of it, Estudiantes were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.23 for the rest of it.
A 3‑2 win over Estudiantes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kevin Ortiz 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.