$4.8M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
He is going to Blackpool, the club has $4.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The clubs have shaken hands with Aldosivi; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Valsangiácomo and Racing 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonel Monti 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.
Racing asked and Newell's Old Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
7.27, 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Racing have done the hard part with Ferro Carril Oeste, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abel Bustos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Racing asked and Almagro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 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 Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Ferro Carril Oeste 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.
Abel Bustos 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Aldosivi paid $140.0K and Racing took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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.
Racing asked and Deportivo Riestra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
0‑1 to Gimnasia y Tiro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio González 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.” Sebastián Castro after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
Boardroom92% of the income goes out in wages at Racing
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him 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 Racing can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing 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 Abel Bustos 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. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 May 2029
Abel Bustos 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.
Benjamín Muñoz 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 3, 24 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Racing can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergio González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Abel Bustos 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.
Colegiales 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
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 Sebastián Castro left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
In brief
The dugoutAbel Bustos has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mateo Baladán
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing 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 Racing 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.” Sergio González and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Abel Bustos 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Abel Bustos 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 Sergio González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Estudiantes go through and Racing go home, 0‑6 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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 finished 0-6. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Albarracín will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against San Martín; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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 dugout16 Apr 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.” Sebastián Castro chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutLeonel Monti asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Rinaudo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is not rotation. Matías Machado has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Abel Bustos 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 Racing 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.
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Albarracín will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Two goals and a mark of 8.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
He is 16 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.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Abel Bustos 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 Santiago Rinaudo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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 Sebastián Castro left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Racing now know that too.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Racing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Santiago Rinaudo has agreed terms with Godoy Cruz for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Temperley have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing 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 Abel Bustos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Racing asked and Villa San Carlos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ignacio Valsangiácomo. 2‑0 against Arsenal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Abel Bustos 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Racing asked and Atlético Tucumán 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 words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
Racing asked and Argentinos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergio González 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ignacio Valsangiácomo signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything agreed with Atlético Tucumán, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Tristán Suárez is saying, and nobody at Racing is enjoying the guessing.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abel Bustos 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Rinaudo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Everything agreed with Tristán Suárez, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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 Abel Bustos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Racing asked and Ferro Carril Oeste said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brian Olivera signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Quintino.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Axel Oyola
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abel Bustos 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.
Racing asked and San Martín SJ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio González 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.
Tristán Suárez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonel Monti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Racing now.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abel Bustos 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.
141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer went to Colón 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.
$26.0K was the most the club would pay and Instituto were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows 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.
Ezequiel Martínez 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 words a physio says slowly. 148 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.
Everything agreed with Temperley, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Abel Bustos 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.
Maipú paid $51.0K and Racing took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio González 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.
156 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and San Telmo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
This is not rotation. Matías Machado has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 Racing will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Racing have done the hard part with Aldosivi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Mateo Baladán's mistake
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing 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 Agustín Morel 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Santiago Rinaudo has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola 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. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Racing is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
Ezequiel Martínez 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 Agustín Morel 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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Mateo Baladán is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The name of Abel Bustos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Racing say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces30 Oct 2028
Supporters make their feelings known about Brian Olivera
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Racing would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Baladán trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Dock Sud watched Brian Olivera 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.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Enzo Acosta on the training pitch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 3 separate groups, 2 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Facundo Taborda’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Abel Bustos 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 Agustín Morel 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 Benjamín Rosales is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola 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 Facundo Taborda is on it.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
Mateo Baladán is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Taborda signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Racing 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.” Sergio González and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Santiago Rinaudo has his answer from Racing; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
Something was said to Lucas Muñoz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
This is not rotation. Santiago Rinaudo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Morel 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
6 new faces, and Racing are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Santiago Rinaudo.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is not rotation. Matías Machado has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 Racing 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout11 Sep 2028
Mateo Baladán is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Benjamín Rosales is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Morel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Racing 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.
“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 dugout4 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sebastián Castro was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Racing dressing room was either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abel Bustos signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing 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.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing 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 Agustín Morel 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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sergio González provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Güemes moved on, Benjamín Rosales reports back to Racing, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
2‑3 to Gimnasia y Tiro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Racing will try again when the window opens; Belgrano may not be selling by then.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Racing told Abel Bustos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Boardroom90% of the income goes out in wages at Racing
Squad5 new faces, and Racing are still learning each other
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
This is not rotation. Matías Machado has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Racing 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Racing have done the hard part with Belgrano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Abel Bustos 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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lautaro Ávila was one of the reasons people came, and $750.0K does not replace that by itself.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Atlanta were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Racing people have started saying his name in the past tense.
1 for Abel Bustos, marked 7.89, 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
$43.0K was the most the club would pay and Arsenal were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Racing asked and Banfield said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Unión de Santa Fe is saying, and nobody at Racing is enjoying the guessing.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Rosales 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.
Ferro Carril Oeste will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Racing were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him 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 Racing can pretend not to have heard.
7.78, 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 deal that would have taken Benjamín Rosales to Gimnasia y Esgrima has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Racing with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Racing had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Independiente, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Abel Bustos 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and San Martín SJ waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Independiente 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.
Racing had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Argentinos Juniors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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. Atlético Tucumán have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Racing had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Independiente, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Racing have done the hard part with Argentinos Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Abel Bustos 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergio González. 1‑0 against San Martín, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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. Racing told Axel Oyola something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout29 May 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Sebastián Castro to a room that had heard them before.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Racing heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastián Castro after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Rosales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Taborda signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Abel Bustos 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.
Patronato left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 May 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Sebastián Castro to a room that had heard them before.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Axel Oyola 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 Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Abel Bustos 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastián Castro after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Independiente go through and Racing go home, 1‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
1-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The terraces24 Apr 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Racing and Independiente, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 39, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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 Racing 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.
Abel Bustos 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Arsenal spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Rosales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Racing heard it as anything else.
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing 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.
“I watch every Racing game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Godoy Cruz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Racing 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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Quilmes in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
1 for Abel Bustos, marked 7.73, 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Something was said to Facundo Taborda and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Facundo Taborda is on it.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Abel Bustos 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Ferro Carril Oeste. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergio González. 1‑0 against Ferro Carril Oeste, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sebastián Castro on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing has been clear about where Juan Albertinazzi stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola 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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Rébola 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. Independiente have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout21 Feb 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.” Sebastián Castro 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 Abel Bustos signs something — a contract at Racing 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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abel Bustos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Brian Olivera.
6 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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Benjamín Rosales reports back to Racing with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Racing have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Olivera has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything agreed with Estudiantes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Racing asked and Independiente said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Abel Bustos and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Axel Oyola 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 Abel Bustos signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Agropecuario Argentino waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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. River Plate have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Antônio Araujo is 15, and Racing have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutMatías Machado asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutLucas Márquez is still being punished for one mistake
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Machado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Benjamín Rosales will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abel Bustos 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.
Independiente Rivadavia paid $120.0K and Racing took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Racing asked and Rosario Central said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing, and 0 appearances in 1 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Olivera has become a man the manager trusts
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Banfield waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Central Córdoba SdE 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 general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Abel Bustos 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.
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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.
Racing 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.
Nobody at Racing 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 Facundo Taborda signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Racing 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 Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with San Lorenzo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Racing asked and Instituto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Santiago Rinaudo.
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abel Bustos 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.
San Martín SJ 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.
Nobody at Racing 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.
In brief
The dugoutAxel Oyola asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutLucas Márquez is still being punished for one mistake
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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.
“I watch every Racing game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Villa Dálmine runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Racing 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.
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Lautaro Ávila falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Taborda signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Facundo Taborda has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
45 points in position 9: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given 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 Racing 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Racing told Raúl Chamorro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago Rinaudo signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Abel Bustos 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 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Márquez'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Abel Bustos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing, and 7 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Ávila 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 the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Facundo Taborda wants continental football; whether Racing can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Something was said to Ignacio Valsangiácomo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luciano Viano is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Taborda signs something — a contract at Racing 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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Rébola 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.” Sebastián Castro after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Santiago Rinaudo's mistake
Ignacio Valsangiácomo 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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 Brian Olivera 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Lautaro Ávila falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Márquez'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Abel Bustos 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastián Castro after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.77, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
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 mark of 7.93, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Abel Bustos'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.
Sergio González had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Central Córdoba SdE were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.48, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
The dugout20 Sep 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 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Sebastián Castro to a room that had heard them before.
Abel Bustos 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
Güemes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Sep 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 Sebastián Castro 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.
Central Córdoba SdE arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Abel Bustos 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing, and 6 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alejandro Rébola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Racing 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 Axel Oyola’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Racing needing him to play as if none of it matters.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sergio González provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Gimnasia y Tiro spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Axel Oyola'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 dugout30 Aug 2027
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.” Sebastián Castro, on a 4‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about 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 Racing 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 Alejandro Rébola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout23 Aug 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 1‑2 Sebastián Castro left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Brian Olivera'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 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 7.58 for the rest of it.
Abel Bustos 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.
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abel Bustos 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergio González. 2‑1 against Atlanta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
9 combined actions and 7.32. 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sebastián Castro on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.