Marked for Daniel Herrera
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around San Lorenzo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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 Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón Hernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Uriel Ojeda gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Uriel Ojeda has had enough of the bench
“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 San Lorenzo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Daniel Herrera knocks on the manager's door
“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 Lorenzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead1 Feb 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexis Cuello’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and San Lorenzo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Lorenzo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alexis Cuello and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mathías de Ritis 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guzmán Corujo, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Herrera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexis Cuello signs something — a contract at San Lorenzo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
Alexis Cuello 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Gastón Hernández 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Branco Salinardi and San Lorenzo agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Branco Salinardi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at San Lorenzo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ezequiel Herrera has written the date down.
Market11 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera wants to know why he earns less
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 Lorenzo have no good answer.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Branco Salinardi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Facundo Gulli: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Dec 2026
The offer from Zulia for Axel Araujo 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Alexis Cuello 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Santiago Torres has left for Racing Club in a $220.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Del Prete was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniel Herrera
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Matías Reali asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Daniel Herrera 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Danilo Arboleda 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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 Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nicolás Tripichio 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nahuel Barrios and San Lorenzo agree another 3 years.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Something was said to Facundo Farías and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guzmán Corujo, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at San Lorenzo, another week without a signature from Nahuel Barrios.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Tomás Andreo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at San Lorenzo 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.