Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Argentino de Quilmes is running low.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Argentino de Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Argentino de Quilmes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Yuri Casermeiro scored, was marked 7.56, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
Yuri Casermeiro 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.
2‑3 to Brown de Adrogué, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Enzo Zárate 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 not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Argentino de Quilmes can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Yuri Casermeiro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Enzo Zárate 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.
He is 23 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.
Something was said to Yuri Casermeiro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Argentino de Quilmes has been clear about where Lucio Nadalín stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout27 Sep 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.” Benjamín Rojas kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutFranco Sosa knocks on the manager’s door
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Argentino de Quilmes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Leandro Guzmán 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Enzo Zárate 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Yuri Casermeiro'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.
“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 Argentino de Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Argentino de Quilmes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
3 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Argentino de Quilmes can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Everything agreed with Central Córdoba SdE, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Leandro Guzmán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Argentino de Quilmes has to find a result from somewhere.
Leandro Guzmán 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 May 2027
Román Barreto 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamín Rojas after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Argentino de Quilmes 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.
Villa San Carlos next, and one man in the Argentino de Quilmes dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutDayro Peña asks for a word with the manager
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes 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 Enzo Zárate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.98, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 May 2027
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.” Benjamín Rojas chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Leandro Guzmán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Zárate is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Chances created: 8. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Argentino de Quilmes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes 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 Enzo Zárate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Benjamín Rojas could afford to be generous.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Argentino de Quilmes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Argentino de Quilmes will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.
11 combined actions and 6.95. 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ignacio Antonio wants continental football; whether Argentino de Quilmes can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, 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 Argentino de Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Román Barreto 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 Argentino de Quilmes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Argentino de Quilmes will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Colón 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 Colón can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yéiler Góez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bolívar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Colón is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Colón 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 Colón is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Zahir Ibarra has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Matías Budiño 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.
Zahir Ibarra has left for Argentinos Juniors in a $160.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Matías Godoy 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Colón will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Belgrano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Colón is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Picech will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colón 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.
The name of Nahuel Curcio has come up in conversations Colón were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Yéiler Góez 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Colón 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. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yéiler Góez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jorge Sanguina 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 Colón is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matías Budiño 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Yéiler Góez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Budiño trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Colón. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Picech will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colón 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Federico Rasmussen 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 Colón, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Matías Budiño has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Federico Rasmussen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ignacio Antonio and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Matías Budiño'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.
“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 Colón, and 6 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
A brace, and Ignacio Lago takes the afternoon — 8.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ignacio Lago provided it, and the 8.32 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 Colón can pretend not to have heard.
At 18 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.
Matías Budiño and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Rasmussen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ignacio Lago. 3‑1 against Almirante Brown, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Colón is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Pedro De Luca kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The offer from CE Europa for Matías Córdoba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nahuel Ciro has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Matías Budiño 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ignacio Antonio wants continental football; whether Colón can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Rasmussen 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.
10 combined actions and 7.03. 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.
Matías Budiño was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Budiño, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Franco García 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Ignacio Antonio’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Pedro De Luca was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Colón dressing room was either.