“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Tomás Palleres 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 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 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Güemes 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 The request is on a desk at Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
San Lorenzo have accepted the money. What Güemes do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Güemes asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Rizzi 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
David Veliz is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maico Quiroz signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
David Veliz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David Veliz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Güemes told Walter Juárez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 Angel Uñates is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Güemes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
David Veliz is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Something was said to Facundo Rizzi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Angel Uñates trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Tomás Palleres’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 15 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Correia is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Güemes can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
David Veliz 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 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 Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutGonzalo Sosa has become a man the manager trusts
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Veliz 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. Güemes told David Veliz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Güemes are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Joan Traverso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Lanús had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 15 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Güemes, 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cristian Lombardi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cristian Lombardi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David Veliz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Cristian Lombardi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Güemes dressing room was either.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Maico Quiroz
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
David Veliz 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Gonzalo Sosa is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Güemes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marcelo Benítez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Güemes needing him to play as if none of it matters.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes 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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Mendoza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David Veliz 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.
Independiente left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
“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 dugout4 Sep 2028
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 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
David Veliz 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Correia is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
“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 Aug 2028
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 0‑1 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes 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 Güemes 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
0‑3 to Boca Juniors, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miguel Ceccotti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Güemes 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.
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes 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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with San Lorenzo; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Güemes have done the hard part with Boca Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
David Veliz 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 Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aldosivi will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Thiago Boni has pre-agreed a move to Güemes, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Güemes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Güemes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Estudiantes; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
David Veliz 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 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutSantiago Sala knocks on the manager’s door
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Güemes can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Estudiantes for Juan Mendoza 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.
Güemes had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at River Plate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Axel Tévez reports back to Güemes with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Estudiantes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Güemes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at River Plate is saying, and nobody at Güemes is enjoying the guessing.
David Veliz 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Güemes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 words a physio says slowly. 142 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
David Veliz 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 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 dugout12 Jun 2028
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 0‑1 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miguel Ceccotti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Güemes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 David Veliz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Güemes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maico Quiroz signs something — a contract at Güemes or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
David Veliz 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Correia is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Miguel Ceccotti is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Güemes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Santiago Sala and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout15 May 2028
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 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Güemes, 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.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 13 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.93, and 2 involvements.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, David Veliz on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Güemes and Platense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Güemes 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.
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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 7.97 for the rest of it.
David Veliz 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.
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Central Córdoba SdE will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Güemes were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
1 for Maico Quiroz, marked 7.53, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Central Córdoba SdE were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Güemes and Central Córdoba SdE, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
David Veliz 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
“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 dugout20 Mar 2028
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 0‑2 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Güemes and San Lorenzo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
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.
David Veliz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Sala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Sala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Güemes, 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese 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 Facundo Melillán trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
SquadJuan Mendoza is not doing himself any favours
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Santiago Sala 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.19, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Vélez, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout11 Oct 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 0‑1 Cristian Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Güemes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
David Veliz 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
Position 15 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cristian Lombardi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Güemes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
David Veliz 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Güemes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mitre keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Güemes have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Sala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Pugliese 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Cristian Lombardi could afford to be generous.
Gianluca Pugliese and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cristian Lombardi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Almirante Brown go through and Güemes go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón Espósito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cristian Lombardi after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Güemes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Beaten 4 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Pugliese 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cristian Lombardi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.