Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Independiente Rivadavia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Independiente Rivadavia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Álex Arce 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 Alejo Osella was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Independiente Rivadavia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentín Sosa, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Leonardo Ríos was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Independiente Rivadavia dressing room was either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Independiente Rivadavia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Up for the corner, and Tomás Bottari delivers — 7.69
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tomás Bottari scored, was marked 7.69, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Leonardo Ríos, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
In brief
The dugoutIván Villalba knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Independiente Rivadavia has been clear about where Elías Bacre stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Independiente Rivadavia can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Álex Arce 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. Nicolás Bolcato 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Alejo Osella is on 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.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Bolcato 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
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.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomás Bottari and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luis Ángel Díaz. 2‑0 against Arsenal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonardo Ríos after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Independiente Rivadavia now know that too.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Independiente Rivadavia can pretend not to have heard.
Álex Arce 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. Nicolás Bolcato 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 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.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Independiente Rivadavia can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Independiente Rivadavia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
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.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fabrizio Sartori 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.
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.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álex Arce provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matías Fernández and Independiente Rivadavia 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 Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Noah Ferreyra 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.
Álex Arce 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. Nicolás Bolcato 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 Alejo Osella is on it.
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.
The offer from Apollon for Álex Arce 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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 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.
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 Ezequiel Bonifacio is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Fernández signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nahuel Junco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Independiente Rivadavia will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Independiente Rivadavia will try again when the window opens; Boca Juniors may not be selling by then.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nahuel Junco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Independiente Rivadavia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Independiente Rivadavia and Boca Juniors have settled on $1.1M. 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.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Nahuel Junco and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Chacarita Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Independiente Rivadavia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Independiente Rivadavia can pretend not to have heard.
Álex Arce was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Facundo Navarro 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.
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.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Chacarita Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutIván Villalba knocks on the manager's door
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Independiente Rivadavia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luciano Sábato has, at Independiente Rivadavia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
The shirt still fits. Luciano Sábato is back at Independiente Rivadavia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The offer went to Argentinos Juniors this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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. Newell's Old Boys have kept their man, and Independiente Rivadavia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Independiente Rivadavia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Newell's Old Boys. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Independiente Rivadavia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A new face in his position, and Ezequiel Bonifacio suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Independiente Rivadavia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Yilber Aponzá leaves Independiente Rivadavia the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Independiente Rivadavia have done the hard part with Newell's Old Boys, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ezequiel Bonifacio and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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.
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 Fabrizio Sartori has written the date down.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iván Villalba and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 years.
Álex Arce 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. Nicolás Bolcato 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.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Celta. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Alejo Osella is on it.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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.” Agustín Albrini and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
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.
Position 13 and 10 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at 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.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
Álex Arce 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.
“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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Bruno Centeno 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.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonardo Ríos after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Bruno Centeno
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alen Boschi and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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 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 easiest signature of my career.” Bruno Centeno and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato 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: Fabrizio Sartori. 3‑1 against Aldosivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fabrizio Sartori provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Álex Arce and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Álex Arce 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fabrizio Sartori provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Patronato were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Independiente Rivadavia and Patronato in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia 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 Bruno Centeno has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutTomás Bottari asks for a word with the manager
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Álex Arce 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Fernández, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them 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 words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
1‑6 to River Plate, 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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 5 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Independiente Rivadavia and River Plate in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejo Osella was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Bolcato 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.
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Independiente Rivadavia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Álex Arce 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. Nicolás Bolcato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Julián Reyna and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
10 seasons and 95 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
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.
“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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Alejo Osella falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8.13. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Independiente Rivadavia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Independiente Rivadavia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Huracán, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Independiente Rivadavia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álex Arce provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with Huracán is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at 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 words a physio says slowly. 105 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Defensa y Justicia is saying, and nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is enjoying the guessing.
Álex Arce was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Alejo Osella falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Independiente Rivadavia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Independiente Rivadavia and San Martín SJ have settled on $320.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Independiente Rivadavia have done the hard part with Tigre, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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. Nicolás Bolcato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutAlejo Osella knocks on the manager’s door
Estudiantes have accepted the money. What Independiente Rivadavia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sheyko Studer and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julián Reyna 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Alen Boschi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iván Valdez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Independiente Rivadavia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vélez, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Iván Villalba 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 Alex Vigo 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 Alejo Osella is on 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 Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nahuel Junco has, at Independiente Rivadavia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The deal with Platense 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.
Álex Arce 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. Alex Vigo 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 Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Platense; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Independiente Rivadavia can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Platense this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Gerardo Martínez has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Independiente Rivadavia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Jablonec said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The name of Agustín Rognoni has come up in conversations Independiente Rivadavia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Alejo Osella falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutGonzalo Ríos knocks on the manager's door
0‑3, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Facundo Ortíz and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them before.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lucas Acosta and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Narváez 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 Independiente Rivadavia 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Luis Ángel Díaz scored in the 86th minute, Racing Club had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Independiente Rivadavia took the lot.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luis Ángel Díaz. 1‑0 against Racing Club, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leonardo Ríos on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 Nicolás Bolcato is on it.
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. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonardo Ríos after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Gonzalo Ríos and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iván Valdez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Álex Arce was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Independiente Rivadavia had all but put away. Aldosivi will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Alejo Osella 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.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Independiente Rivadavia and Patronato in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Something was said to Alejo Osella and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Molina 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 Matías Fernández signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia 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 Fabrizio Sartori has written the date down.
22 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iván Valdez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Álex Arce 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Independiente Rivadavia has been clear about where José Florentín stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Joaquín Ibáñez 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 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
0‑3 to Huracán, 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.
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.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
1 for Tomás Bottari, marked 7.46, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Santiago Cena and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Leonardo Ríos could afford to be generous.
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 Nicolás Bolcato is on it.
In brief
SquadMarcos Narváez falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
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. 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.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
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 dugout12 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Leonardo Ríos chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Fernández signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Barracas Central will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Independiente Rivadavia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Álex Arce was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alex Vigo and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
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.
Marked 8.25 — 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.
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A brace, and Tomás Bottari takes the afternoon — 8.08
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tomás Bottari provided it, and the 8.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Argentinos Juniors were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tomás Bottari. 3‑2 against Argentinos Juniors, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Independiente Rivadavia.
9 combined actions and 7.30. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Aristizábal is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
Iván Villalba 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.” Ulises Echevarría and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Independiente Rivadavia has to find a result from somewhere.
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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
0‑2 to Banfield, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Alejo Osella 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iván Valdez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Álex Arce 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.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Federico Acosta 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. Juan Cabrera 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Iván Otero 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.
In brief
SquadAlejo Osella falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Chávez, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Matías Molina 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Agustín Córdoba has his answer from Independiente Rivadavia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Acosta and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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. Independiente Rivadavia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín Córdoba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Gonzalo Ríos has written the date down.
Álex Arce and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Alejo Osella 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.” Lucas Acosta and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álex Arce signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Independiente Rivadavia, 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 Independiente Rivadavia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Alejo Osella 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
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.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Independiente Rivadavia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Huracán, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Álex Arce 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.” Matías Molina and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Notts County said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Molina 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Independiente Rivadavia have had the benefit of it.
Matías Fernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Córdoba 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 Independiente Rivadavia 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 Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Quilmes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Independiente Rivadavia and Rosario Central have settled on $620.0K. 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.
The name of Agustín Rognoni has come up in conversations Independiente Rivadavia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Alejo Osella 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.” Gerónimo Vergara and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 years.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Godoy Cruz. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Independiente Rivadavia have had the benefit of it.
The offer from San Miguel for Iván Valdez 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.
Everything agreed with Gimnasia La Plata, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Belgrano 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 easiest signature of my career.” Agustín Rognoni and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Simón Pérez is in the works
The deal with San Lorenzo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Independiente Rivadavia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Unión de Santa Fe, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Álex Arce 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yilber Aponzá is living that version at Independiente Rivadavia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Ángel Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tigre will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Elías Rojas has pre-agreed a move to Independiente Rivadavia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Sarmiento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mauro Carrizo
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Independiente Rivadavia can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Diego Crego commits to Independiente Rivadavia for another 3 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tomás Bottari 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.
Unión de Santa Fe 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.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Sarmiento. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Álex Arce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Julián Reyna and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 4 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
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.
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.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luis Ángel Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Bottari is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Independiente Rivadavia that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
0‑3, and Independiente go on. Nine months of work settled by a couple of evenings, which is what a playoff is and what nobody designing one thinks about.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Villalba 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout6 Nov 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 0‑3 Leonardo Ríos left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Villalba 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 Independiente Rivadavia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Independiente Rivadavia 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. Independiente Rivadavia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Independiente Rivadavia has been clear about where Julián Huertas stands, which is more than many ever get.
San Lorenzo watched Luis Ángel Díaz again at the weekend, and this time they did not bother hiding it. Clubs only stop hiding when they want the price to start moving.
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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tomás Bottari 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 goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout23 Oct 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.” Leonardo Ríos chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. River Plate kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Independiente Rivadavia will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. José Florentín scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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 7.50 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Méndez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Independiente Rivadavia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Álex Arce 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. Iván Villalba 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. Independiente Rivadavia told Luis Ángel Díaz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iván Villalba and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 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 Independiente Rivadavia 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 Iván Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Luis Ángel Díaz decided nobody was going anywhere. Atlanta had no time left to answer.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luis Ángel Díaz provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iván Villalba and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Bottari 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 Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Villalba 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 kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Leonardo Ríos to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Independiente Rivadavia deserved better, and so did he.
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.
Álex Arce 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
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 goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Nicolás Bolcato now has 23 of them across 67 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
The offer from Baltika for Agustín Chávez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Bottari 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: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The name of Agustín Chávez has come up in conversations Independiente Rivadavia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matías Fernández. 1‑0 against Gimnasia La Plata, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
100 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.
Álex Arce 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. Iván Villalba 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.
“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 Leonardo Ríos left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Nicolás Bolcato is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sheyko Studer signs something — a contract at Independiente Rivadavia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tomás Bottari 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 easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Ferreyra and Independiente Rivadavia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Aldosivi spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Villalba 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: Matías Fernández. 1‑0 against Aldosivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.69 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Independiente Rivadavia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Álex Arce was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Independiente Rivadavia will try again when the window opens; San Lorenzo may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Bottari 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. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Independiente Rivadavia until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
$1.4M on the table at San Lorenzo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Everything agreed with San Martín SJ, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
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.
Independiente Rivadavia ran out of time with Aldosivi. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Independiente Rivadavia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have shaken hands with San Martín SJ; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Bruno Méndez 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 had been thinking. Iván Villalba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 7.52 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Minute 93, against Belgrano, 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Independiente Rivadavia have gone to Tigre with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Bottari 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 Leonard Costa is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Belgrano in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
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 Luis Ángel Díaz has written the date down.
In brief
SquadLeonel Bucca has seen what the next man earns
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Independiente Rivadavia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Independiente Rivadavia have done the hard part with San Martín SJ, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Álex Arce 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 Iván Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to San Lorenzo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Independiente Rivadavia will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with San Martín SJ 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.
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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chacarita Juniors will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Leo Ocampo has pre-agreed a move to Independiente Rivadavia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Independiente Rivadavia asked and Platense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Independiente Rivadavia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Aldosivi 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.
Iván Villalba 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 Tomás Bottari 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.
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.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Independiente Rivadavia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Racing Genk is saying, and nobody at Independiente Rivadavia is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente Rivadavia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Talleres have kept their man, and Independiente Rivadavia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
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.
2‑4, 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.
Álex Arce 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. Tomás Bottari 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Independiente Rivadavia have made the call to Sivasspor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The tie is over and the right side of it is theirs. 1‑0 on the night, a dressing room that will not come down for a day and a half, and a next round nobody has thought about yet.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Agustín Rognoni did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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. Tomás Bottari 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 21 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.
“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 dugout29 May 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.” Leonardo Ríos, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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.
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.