Maximiliano Salas 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Independiente Rivadavia. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Enzo Lombardi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Bolcato and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejo Osella was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Crego will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia 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 Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Iván Villalba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over Barracas Central, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.23 — 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Juan Manuel Elordi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Independiente Rivadavia have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Matías Fernández scored in the 89th minute, Estudiantes had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Independiente Rivadavia took the lot.
Maximiliano Salas 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.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Enzo Lombardi could afford to be generous.
Maximiliano Salas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Independiente Rivadavia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejo Osella is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álex Arce provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Fabrizio Sartori 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 else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.” Enzo Lombardi kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Independiente Rivadavia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Diego Crego has agreed terms with Vélez 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 Independiente Rivadavia 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alex Vigo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Out, 0‑3 to Unión de Santa Fe, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Maximiliano Salas 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. Stefano Moreyra 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.
11 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.
A 1‑0 win over Almirante Brown, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 118th minute. Almirante Brown will replay every second of the added time for a week.
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.
Alex Vigo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Tobías Ganduglia 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.
Marked 7.62 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Independiente Rivadavia had the best player on the pitch.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matías Fernández. 1‑0 against Aldosivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Manuel Elordi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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.” Enzo Lombardi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Independiente Rivadavia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Rosario Central in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Álex Arce and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years.
Maximiliano Salas 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lucas Iglesias is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luis De Luca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Benjamín Ríos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Benicio Ramírez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejo Osella was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” José Florentín and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years.
Álex Arce 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. 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.
Minute 94, against Argentinos Juniors, 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.
11 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.