Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Jaime will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Martín the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Lautaro Ovando 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Facundo Pons 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín 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 San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Facundo Pons 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.
Tiago Peñalba 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Rodríguez 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Pons signs something — a contract at San Martín or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutAníbal Paz asks for a word with the manager
Facundo Pons 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías García signs something — a contract at San Martín or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and San Martín have no good answer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Martín. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Arfaras did not need any: 8.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Pons 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.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Santiago Briñone scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Martín is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Facundo Pons 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.
12 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Minute 87, against Almagro, 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Compensation agreed, contract signed, and a manager gone who was never for sale. San Martín begin the search from behind, which is the only place a club in this position ever begins.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Ezequiel Vidal recited it perfectly.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 35, 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Facundo Pons 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.” Ezequiel Vidal after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Matías García has taken the hint, and San Martín are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Tiago Peñalba 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 Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Facundo Pons 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 name of Juan Jaime has come up in conversations San Martín were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonzalo Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Aug 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.” the manager chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Maipú defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at San Martín 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 San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Tiago Peñalba again, and this time the name on the line is Rosario Central. San Martín are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at San Martín 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Briñone 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Agropecuario Argentino waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Martín is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Tiago Peñalba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Facundo Pons 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. San Martín will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Facundo Pons wants continental football; whether San Martín can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Tiago Peñalba 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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. San Martín told Lautaro Ovando something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutDarío Sand dropped after a run of poor form
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Martín have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Briñone 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.
Tigre paid $310.0K and San Martín took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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 saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Martín is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Something was said to Santiago Briñone and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Martín 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 San Martín, 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 San Martín 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 Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order San Martín prefer.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nahuel Manganelli has his answer from San Martín; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darío Sand trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Martín will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
6 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.
7.92, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Pons 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. San Martín will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” the manager kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutFelipe Rivarola is still being punished for one mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Guillermo Rodríguez and San Martín agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Tiago Peñalba 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Facundo Pons 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 San Martín 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 whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Guillermo Rodríguez 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.
Match21 Apr 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about San Martín and Rosario Central in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Martín 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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Facundo Pons 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
the manager: “No excuses”
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darío Sand trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Martín told Nicolás Moreno something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Lautaro Ovando
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Martín lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Martín will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 7.64 for the rest of 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.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Martín will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Martín have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 7.57 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Tiago Peñalba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Facundo Pons 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 San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Facundo Pons 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Briñone, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
the manager: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tadeo Polli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Something was said to Matías García and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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. San Martín told Tiago Peñalba something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
the manager: “No excuses”
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Nobody at San Martín 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.
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Martín lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Facundo Pons 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 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Víctor Salazar'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 dugout1 Mar 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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
The words a physio says slowly. 69 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Facundo Pons wants continental football; whether San Martín can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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.
Lautaro Ovando 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: Matías García. 2‑1 against Tristán Suárez, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Tristán Suárez were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Matías García at his very best
76 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Martín lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Facundo Pons 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
the manager answers for it
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Santiago Briñone scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Jaime will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Martín the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Martín lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Martín lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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.
Santiago Briñone and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody at San Martín 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Álvaro Veliez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Still no offer on the table, and Felipe Rivarola’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
Facundo Pons 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 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Rodríguez 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Martín have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Facundo Pons 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 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.
The name of Aníbal Paz has come up in conversations San Martín were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tiago Peñalba 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 a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tadeo Polli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Diellos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 San Martín, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Goiás, the club has $5.2M 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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 San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Martín lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Tigre for Marcos López was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Agustín Graneros has agreed terms with Villa Dálmine for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Chávez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Martín the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Facundo Pons 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 phone has started ringing about Felipe Rivarola again, and this time the name on the line is Deportes Recoleta. San Martín are listening politely and promising nothing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nahuel Gallardo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
SquadTiago Peñalba falls out with a teammate over standards
BoardroomOpen for business: San Martín enter the window
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Marcos López
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Martín have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Pons 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 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.
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.
“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 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Marcos López'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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tadeo Polli 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 Álvaro Veliez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Facundo Pons 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.
Nahuel Gallardo 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, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Cisnero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Martín the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at San Martín that is a harder question to answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Facundo Pons was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tadeo Polli 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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.
Gonzalo Rodríguez 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
192% of the income goes out in wages at San Martín
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 is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 36, with 310 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
17 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 manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Felipe Rivarola is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Martín 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 San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Marcos López wants continental football; whether San Martín 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 San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.08, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Minute 92, against Güemes, 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alejandro Galván 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Facundo Pons 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.
Everybody at San Martín saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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.
Gonzalo Rodríguez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Álvaro Veliez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Güemes next, and one man in the San Martín dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of 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 San Martín can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Santiago Chávez has agreed terms with Argentino de Quilmes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Pons 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 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.
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Rodríguez 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Marcos López'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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Orellana wants continental football; whether San Martín can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
17 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout28 Sep 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 2‑3 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tadeo Polli 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutFelipe Rivarola has become a man the manager trusts
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Los Andes had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and San Martín did not stop to explain themselves.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Pons was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Diellos, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 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.” the manager kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutAníbal Paz is still being punished for one mistake
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Martín is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Facundo Pons 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by the manager to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Facundo Pons 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Briñone, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Darío Sand'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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ezequiel Parnisari has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Castro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Martín. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The offer from Cosenza for Nahuel Gallardo 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 an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Facundo Pons wants continental football; whether San Martín can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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 San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
17 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Darío Sand knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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 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 7.64 for the rest of it.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Marcos López wants continental football; whether San Martín can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The phone has started ringing about Nahuel Gallardo again, and this time the name on the line is Cosenza. San Martín are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Enzo Cejas has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alan Cisnero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Martín the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín 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.
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 7.86 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Martín they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Facundo Pons 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kevin López. 1‑0 against Alvarado, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, San Martín have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
In brief
SquadTadeo Polli falls out with a teammate over standards
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Pons 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: 20. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Martín this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Álvarez 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. Joaquín Acosta 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. Daniel Vidal 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.
Facundo Pons 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 not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Martín can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at San Martín training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Darío Sand 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.
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
17 new faces, and San Martín 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.
It needed Bruno Cabrera to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Gimnasia y Tiro, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.