Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes can pretend not to have heard.
Alejandro Cabrera 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 Siro Rosané 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 Mauro Valiente trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Estudiantes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Estudiantes 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mauro Valiente 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 Tomás González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Aldosivi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutSergio Ojeda asks for a word with the manager
Alejandro Cabrera 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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Estudiantes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vito Rosané 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Alanís trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Agustín Lastra’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Estudiantes needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Lautaro Herrera is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Estudiantes. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 Estudiantes that is a harder question to answer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tobías Leiva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Tomás Olmos
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Tomás Olmos has come out of that comparison in the side, and Estudiantes have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramón Ábila trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Huracán in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Estudiantes has been clear about where Manuel Leal stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at Estudiantes 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.