Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Tomás Viola has agreed terms with Villa San Carlos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Delgado 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Felipe Frazzi has his answer from Newell's Old Boys; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Newell's Old Boys will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Something was said to Lucas Carrizo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Pablo Altamirano 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ignacio Ramírez 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Newell's Old Boys will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
26 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
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.
3 on the bounce on the road for Newell's Old Boys. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Newell's Old Boys will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Scarpeccio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Sebastián Montero has agreed terms with Villa San Carlos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Newell's Old Boys will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Boca Juniors next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Julián Contrera 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.
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 Guillermo Balzi is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Boca Juniors in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Newell's Old Boys will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Delgado 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: Walter Mazzantti. 2‑0 against San Lorenzo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nicolás Caro Torres 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 did not go to Universidad de Concepcion to sit and watch. I want to come back to Newell's Old Boys and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Newell's Old Boys will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over Unión de Santa Fe, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
8.01. 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.
Pablo Altamirano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Gabriel Arias
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Newell's Old Boys will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ian Glavinovich and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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. Newell's Old Boys told Marco Pellegrino something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Matheus Albino: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Defensa y Justicia are out and Newell's Old Boys go through, 2‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Francisco Scarpeccio had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Defensa y Justicia were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Newell's Old Boys will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Guillermo Balzi and Newell's Old Boys agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Delgado is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Newell's Old Boys will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Newell's Old Boys have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Botafogo-PB to sit and watch. I want to come back to Newell's Old Boys and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
Julián Contrera 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. José Manuel López is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ignacio Ramírez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Newell's Old Boys will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alejo Torres has agreed terms with Argentino de Merlo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
15 goals in 27 games at Coquimbo Unido — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milton Delgado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Milton Delgado has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: José Manuel López. 2‑0 against Estudiantes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ezequiel Suárez kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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.
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 dugout16 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ezequiel Suárez to a room that had heard them before.
Add another name to the list: Palermo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ignacio Ramírez. The answer from Newell's Old Boys has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Pablo Altamirano 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 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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Luca Regiardo reports back to Newell's Old Boys with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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.
15 goals in 24 games at Coquimbo Unido — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Atlético Tucumán are out and Newell's Old Boys go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Instituto will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Newell's Old Boys were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Newell's Old Boys people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Godoy Cruz 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Francisco Scarpeccio did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Newell's Old Boys people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Alejo Montero was one of the reasons people came, and $7.2M does not replace that by itself.
Newell's Old Boys have gone to Godoy Cruz 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Augusto Levrand 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.
15 combined actions and 7.02. 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.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Newell's Old Boys have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Matheus Albino has just signed for Newell's Old Boys, and for once the answer mattered.
Add another name to the list: Palermo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ignacio Ramírez. The answer from Newell's Old Boys has not changed — yet.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Newell's Old Boys have paid $1.3M for Matheus Albino, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Botafogo is saying, and nobody at Newell's Old Boys is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luciano Herrera and Newell's Old Boys agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Delgado 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 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.
The offer from Union Espanola for Nicolás Figal was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with CRB 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.
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 Newell's Old Boys is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Newell's Old Boys game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Botafogo-PB runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” America de Cali had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Newell's Old Boys have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Huracán have kept their man, and Newell's Old Boys go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Newell's Old Boys people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Newell's Old Boys have paid $7.4M for Claudio Spinelli, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Newell's Old Boys have gone to Al Wasl 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.
The fee is $3.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Excursionistas drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Milton Delgado 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.
Newell's Old Boys asked and Colo-Colo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have shaken hands with Vasco da Gama; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
121 minutes played. Valentino Acuña found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Flandria went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Valentino Acuña did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rosario Central go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Argentino de Merlo had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from Alcorcón for Luis Ingolotti 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
$520.0K settles it between the clubs for Mateo Morro
Independiente have accepted the money. What Newell's Old Boys do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.8M — a club that wants Mateo Seoane enough to be asked twice.
$450.0K on the table at Instituto. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Solari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nicolás Figal 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alejo Montero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicolás Caro Torres is on it.
Milton Delgado, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.02
A mark of 8.02 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Felipe Calderone and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Pablo Altamirano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ezequiel Suárez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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. Walter Mazzantti 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.
9 goals in 13 games at Coquimbo Unido — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ian Glavinovich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until José Manuel López signs something — a contract at Newell's Old Boys or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Gimnasia y Esgrima next, and one man in the Newell's Old Boys dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Newell's Old Boys. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Martín Ortega falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
Marked 7.17 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ezequiel Suárez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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 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 has re-ordered his thinking and Saúl Salcedo 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jherson Mosquera is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Pablo Altamirano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
Milton Delgado 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
7.85, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Newell's Old Boys had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ian Glavinovich's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Julián Contrera had Newell's Old Boys level again within 4 minutes, and Talleres never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Walter Mazzantti's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alejo Montero 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nicolás Figal is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The captaincy has been taken off Gabriel Arias. Newell's Old Boys will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 Newell's Old Boys will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nicolás Caro Torres’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Newell's Old Boys needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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.
4 goals in 26 games at Sanluqueño — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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 earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ezequiel Suárez on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Jeremías Vallejos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Newell's Old Boys have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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 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
Squad8 new faces, and Newell's Old Boys are still learning each other
The dugoutLucas Carrizo dropped after a run of poor form
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
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.
Pablo Altamirano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Lucas Carrizo
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.
“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 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.
Pablo Altamirano 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ezequiel Suárez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Milton Delgado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Marco Pellegrino has moved up it.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ezequiel Suárez left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luis Ingolotti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Milton Delgado, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22
A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Martín Ortega 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. Ian Glavinovich 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 8.33 — 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.
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Newell's Old Boys had all but put away. Instituto will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
4‑0, and Rodrigo Herrera took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Newell's Old Boys tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Milton Delgado, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Facundo Vázquez 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. Andrés Fernández has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Ponce is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Federico García is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Newell's Old Boys game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Botafogo-PB runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Defensa y Justicia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ian Glavinovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Scarpeccio and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Pablo Altamirano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Goitea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti 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.” Armando Méndez and Newell's Old Boys agree another 3 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jherson Mosquera signs something — a contract at Newell's Old Boys or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Felipe Frazzi is on it.
In brief
The dugoutArmando Méndez asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Vélez 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $2.4M — a club that wants Elías Gómez enough to be asked twice.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Luca Regiardo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Julián Contrera and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Martín Ortega falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Newell's Old Boys have paid $2.2M for Nicolás Figal, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Rodrigo Leiva has agreed terms with Villa Dálmine for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Newell's Old Boys have paid $220.0K for Jeremías Vallejos, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Newell's Old Boys people have started saying his name in the past tense.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.5M has been paid because Luis Ingolotti is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Everything agreed with Boca Juniors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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.
Alejo Navarro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
The dugoutGabriel Arias has become a man the manager trusts
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Newell's Old Boys have paid $9.0M for José Manuel López, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gimnasia La Plata wanted more than $230.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
José Manuel López was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $9.0M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ian Glavinovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Newell's Old Boys will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Marco Pellegrino is in the works
The offer went to Palmeiras 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grêmio have kept their man, and Newell's Old Boys go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Newell's Old Boys offered $4.7M; Boca Juniors said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
Newell's Old Boys have gone to Atlético Tucumán 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $352.5K — a club that wants Lucas Arce enough to be asked twice.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marcelo Esponda 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.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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. Newell's Old Boys 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 Matías Cóccaro has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ian Glavinovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Emilio Zelaya 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.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Cóccaro signs something — a contract at Newell's Old Boys or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Emilio Zelaya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Felipe Frazzi is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Newell's Old Boys. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Josué Reinatti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Newell's Old Boys have no good answer.
In brief
SquadGabriel Arias makes the division’s eleven — 6.82
Gimnasia y Esgrima will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Newell's Old Boys were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
7.91, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Walter Mazzantti 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.
Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Newell's Old Boys than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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 Martín Luciano 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 Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
16 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Basualdo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ezequiel Suárez to a room that had heard them before.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Facundo Basualdo has agreed terms with Sacachispas for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ian Glavinovich 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.
Pablo Altamirano 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Boca Juniors.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oscar Salomón’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Newell's Old Boys needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutLuca Regiardo knocks on the manager’s door
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to San Lorenzo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ezequiel Suárez to a room that had heard them before.
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Martín Ortega. 1‑0 against Unión de Santa Fe, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Emilio Zelaya 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ezequiel Suárez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ian Glavinovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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.
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Atyrau had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. David Sotelo 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Sotelo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ezequiel Suárez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Mazzantti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Josué Reinatti has come up in conversations Newell's Old Boys were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Rodrigo Herrera 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Valentino Acuña is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Alejo Montero delivers — 7.52
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alejo Montero scored, was marked 7.52, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Central Córdoba SdE. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.59, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ian Glavinovich 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.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys 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.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Newell's Old Boys lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Mazzantti 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The medical room confirms 43 days on the sidelines for Luciano Miño, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ezequiel Suárez left the room before anybody could ask which.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.92, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Miguel Russo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Martín Gómez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Martín Ruiz 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. Joaquín Pérez 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 126 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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Arias and Newell's Old Boys agree another 2 years.
Oscar Salomón 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.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oscar Salomón trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ezequiel Suárez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Newell's Old Boys dressing room was either.