Julio González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Aldo González falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Libertad have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Tacuary is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Tacuary pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Tacuary are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
A brace, and David Fleitas takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Fleitas provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary 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 Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aldo 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.
Tacuary asked and San Lorenzo 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tacuary has been clear about where Hugo Flores stands, which is more than many ever get.
Minute 90, against Nacional, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
Julio González 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 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.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Aldo González 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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 Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
Julio González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aldo 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.
Successful dribbles: 42. 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.
River Plate go through and Tacuary go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Herminio Vera has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Julio González 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 May 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aldo 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fernando Gamarra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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 plan did not have a place for David Fleitas
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Julio González 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gary Tello commits to Tacuary for another 2 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aldo 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.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Position 6, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Tacuary had all but put away. Guarani will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Nobody at Tacuary will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped 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 Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Tacuary will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Espinoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Tacuary is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Julio González was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Martínez and Tacuary agree another 2 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Fleitas. 1‑0 against Sportivo Trinidense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
7.88, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Tacuary had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Diego Cardozo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano 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.
Everybody at Tacuary saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
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.
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 Mario Barrios is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Cepeda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Héctor Lezcano 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 words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Julio González 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.
Minute 91, against Olimpia, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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 Víctor Barrios is on it.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
SquadWords at Tacuary training over how hard people work
The dugoutHerminio Vera knocks on the manager’s door
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Julio González 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Aldo González falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Héctor Lezcano. 2‑1 against Sportivo Luqueno, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Martín Espinoza has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Aldo González falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Augusto Giménez, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 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.” Diego Cardozo, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Alexis Rojas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and Tacuary 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.
Nobody at Tacuary will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Tacuary scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Julio González 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano 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 mark of 7.68, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Diego Cardozo kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they 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.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Julio González was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Víctor Barrios is on it.
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tacuary, 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 Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tacuary, another week without a signature from Julio González.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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 Kevin Lezcano is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Julio González and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Aldo González is on it.
125 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Julio González was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Guarani have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Diego Acosta is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Alderete is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hugo Peralta has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hugo Barrios is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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 Víctor Barrios is on it.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal with Colón 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.
Alexis Rojas 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tacuary have done the hard part with Libertad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Tacuary will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nobody at Tacuary will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tacuary know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Julio González and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Hugo Gaona has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tacuary have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mauro Gómez and Tacuary agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Dec 2026
8 new faces, and Tacuary 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.
Rosario Central 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The deal with Guarani 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.
Julio González 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 Héctor Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Francisco Mongelos has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tacuary have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Libertad have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Tacuary have made the call to Sol de America. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
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 Gustavo Manzur is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tacuary know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Carlos Servín and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Carlos Servín was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Víctor Barrios is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Kevin Lezcano is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Carlos Servín and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano 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.
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano 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.
Gary Tello 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Tacuary know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Aldo González is on it.
Fáider Burbano arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Carlos Servín was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Tacuary will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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 Víctor Barrios is on it.
Gary Tello is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tacuary know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Luis Franco has written the date down.
Alexis Rojas 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
23 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
Everybody at Tacuary saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Tacuary will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tacuary, another week without a signature from Carlos Servín.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Tacuary will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Héctor Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Carlos Servín was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Alexis Rojas 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hugo Acosta is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Fleitas. 1‑0 against 12 de Junio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
22 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ariel Schuartzman has come out of that comparison in the side, and Tacuary have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 12 de Junio in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Tacuary have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Successful dribbles: 47. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and David Fleitas takes the afternoon — 8.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Fleitas provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Lezcano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Aldo González is on it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with River Plate the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Tacuary will enjoy reviewing.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Héctor Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑0 win over Fernando de la Mora, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Aldo González takes the afternoon — 8.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aldo González provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Alexis Rojas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 22 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Tacuary will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Aldo González has, at Tacuary, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing 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 Tacuary 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Angel Romero is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Oscar Enciso is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlos Gonzalez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Aldo González at his very best
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Tacuary and Deportivo Capiata, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 3‑4 Diego Cardozo left the room before anybody could ask which.