Otamendi calls for quiet work as River looks to climb out of the hole against Argentinos

Four games, four losses, zero goals scored and always the same scoreline: 1-0. That is the picture River currently presents in Group B of the 2026 Torneo Clausura, and it is also why Nicolás Otamendi decided to speak out at the club's training facility ahead of a match that could mark a turning point.

The 38-year-old defender, a World Cup winner in Qatar 2022 and a 2026 World Cup finalist with the Argentina national team, returned home to fulfill a dream: wearing the River jersey, the club he has supported since childhood. But the current reality looks nothing like the happy homecoming story he had pictured. Eduardo Coudet's team sits last in its group and has piled up six straight losses if you count the Torneo Apertura final and the Copa Argentina alongside this losing run in the Clausura. Now, with Otamendi as the new captain, River is preparing to host none other than league leaders Argentinos Juniors on Sunday at the Monumental.

One detail, oddly enough, worked in the squad's favor: last week's postponed match against Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia, for the Copa Sudamericana, gave River a few extra days of training that Otamendi himself saw as a chance to bring the group back together.

When last Wednesday's match against Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia was postponed because of the Sudamericana, it actually helped us. We got to train better, connect with each other, get the team working as a unit and try to move forward. It's a tough situation we're going through, we need to face up to it and try to improve.Nicolás Otamendi

Working behind closed doors, unity as the answer

The World Cup winner did not shy away from how harsh the moment is, but he chose to lean on something he knows well from his years in Europe: the patience of quiet, behind-the-scenes work. He insisted that trust within the squad remains intact and that the only way out is through results, not words.

We need to get good results, that's the most important thing. We have the mentality and the confidence that we can turn this situation around. What matters is always the work, behind closed doors, in silence.Nicolás Otamendi

Otamendi also wanted to shut down any talk of internal rifts or a locker room split, the kind of rumors that tend to circulate when results aren't coming. He described a solid relationship between the squad, Coudet and president Stassi Di Carlo, stressing that the response can only be built together, with constant communication across every part of the club.

The new captain also acknowledged something every River fan knows by heart: in Argentina, the noise generated around the club is far greater than what actually happens inside the squad. That's why he stressed the need for everything worked on during the week to finally show up on the field, aware that the anxiety to score and to deliver across every position on the team will be present on Sunday against Argentinos.

He closed with a message that blends self-criticism and hope, recalling that the ultimate goal remains reconnecting the fans with the team, something that, given where the standings sit today, feels distant but not impossible.