Nicolás Borsotti

Central Midfielder - Defensores
18 Nov 2030
Monday
Process

Marked for Nicolás Borsotti

219 Edition

The Defensores Post

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Franco Caro asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Enzo González stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Enzo González and Defensores agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Home is on Satrio Azhar's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Defensores are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

Satrio Azhar in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Defensores release $915.9K for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

Market

The Agustín Benítez question follows Defensores around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Agustín Benítez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

Back issues
218 Edition

The Defensores Post

30 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Dilan Acosta puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Agustín Benítez 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.

Squad

Defensores count the cost of losing Simón Herrera

15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicolás Varela

“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.

Squad

Nicolás Borsotti 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 Defensores, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Lorenzo Cores runs his contract down

6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Defensores money.

In brief

217 Edition

The Defensores Post

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Enzo Figueroa hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Agustín Benítez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Bautista González

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Matías Gómez sends Defensores past Chaco For Ever

It finished 4‑3, and it was Matías Gómez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Defensores.

Player ratings

Matías Gómez in the eights

A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Franco Caro in the eights

A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Tomás Castillo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Ezequiel Aguirre

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Aguirre, and the manager let it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Enzo González

4 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

In brief

216 Edition

The Defensores Post

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lorenzo Cores puts it in writing

“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 Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Matías Gómez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Ivan Borges’s goal not enough for Defensores

Ivan Borges scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Gimnasia y Esgrima, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Enzo Villalba

“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.

Squad

Enzo González is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.36 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Matías Gómez 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.

Market

The Joaquín Tonet story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Joaquín Tonet signs something — a contract at Defensores or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Player ratings

Simón Herrera runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Raúl Romano

A mark of 5.59 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

210 Edition

The Defensores Post

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Satrio Azhar

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Simón Herrera hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Ezequiel Aguirre out for 24 days

The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Ezequiel Aguirre, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Satrio Azhar 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Enzo González

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Lorenzo Cores

“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.

Boardroom

$915.9K on the table at Defensores

The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.

Match

Defensores and Chacarita Juniors take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Market

The Agustín Benítez talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Defensores know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

205 Edition

The Defensores Post

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Catriel Monochio hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Defensores

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Agustín Benítez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Agustín Benítez

Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

No hiding place for Nicolás Borsotti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Borsotti, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Facundo Beltrán

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Joaquín Tonet

3 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Matías Gómez leaves them behind him

Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Match

Defensores draw a blank against Talleres

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Talleres defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

201 Edition

The Defensores Post

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Santiago Izzo puts it in writing

“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 Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Defensores make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Defensores have 3 straight wins of it.

Market

Facundo Centurión attracts admirers

The name of Facundo Centurión has come up in conversations Defensores were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Matías Gómez 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Facundo Beltrán

Marked 9.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Defensores find a way past Gimnasia y Esgrima

Gimnasia y Esgrima made Defensores work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Bautista González runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Nicolás Borsotti 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.

Player ratings

Agustín Benítez shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

198 Edition

The Defensores Post

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Facundo Centurión asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Defensores lose Ezequiel Aguirre

108 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Nicolás Borsotti stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Borsotti and Defensores agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Bautista González 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Dilan Acosta

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dilan Acosta, and the manager let it.

Match

Estudiantes take the points off Defensores

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Enzo González

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Matías Gómez leaves them behind him

Shots: 14. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Santiago Izzo

A mark of 5.35 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

197 Edition

The Defensores Post

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Santiago Izzo asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Agustín Benítez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Defensores against San Telmo

0‑1 to San Telmo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Enzo González runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicolás Borsotti

“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.

Player ratings

The one thing Matías Gómez could not do

Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Squad

Santiago Izzo 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 terraces

The spotlight tightens on Nicolás Borsotti

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

Squad

Iván Massi is not saying it is over

“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 37 with 31 appearances behind him, and Defensores have to plan for both answers.

In brief

194 Edition

The Defensores Post

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Facundo Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ezequiel Aguirre out for 136 days

The medical room confirms 136 days on the sidelines for Ezequiel Aguirre, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Agustín Benítez 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.

Player ratings

Enzo González runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

A bad afternoon for Defensores against Morón

0‑2 to Morón, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Iván Massi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Massi, and the manager let it.

Squad

Facundo Centurión lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Franco Caro

A mark of 5.46 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

Player ratings

Simón Herrera never got going

5.59 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

190 Edition

The Defensores Post

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Facundo Centurión puts it in writing

“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 Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Agustín Benítez 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matías Gómez

Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Joaquín Tonet runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Honours even between Defensores and Temperley

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

No hiding place for Bruno Belizán

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Belizán, and the manager let it.

Squad

Enzo González wants a proper job in this side

Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Enzo González has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Defensores know, and have known for weeks.

Squad

Nicolás Borsotti 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 Nicolás Borsotti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The clock does Iván Massi’s negotiating for him

3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Defensores could ask drops and the wages Iván Massi can ask rise.

In brief

188 Edition

The Defensores Post

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Lorenzo Cores hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Facundo Centurión

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Centurión will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Defensores the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Agustín Benítez 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.

Match

Joaquín Tonet sends Defensores past Talleres

It finished 3‑1, and it was Joaquín Tonet’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Defensores.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Joaquín Tonet

Marked 8.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Bautista González

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.86, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ezequiel Aguirre

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matías Gómez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Nicolás Borsotti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Borsotti, and the manager let it.

In brief

187 Edition

The Defensores Post

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Dilan Acosta hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Iván Massi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iván Massi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Defensores the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Agustín Benítez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Franco Caro sends Defensores past Mitre

It finished 2‑1, and it was Franco Caro’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Defensores.

Player ratings

One of those days for Franco Caro

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.85, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Enzo González runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Diego García 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.

Market

The Joaquín Tonet question follows Defensores around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joaquín Tonet’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Nicolás Borsotti is off the mark for Defensores

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

184 Edition

The Defensores Post

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lorenzo Cores asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Nicolás Varela is a Defensores player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Market

Valentín De Luca comes home

The shirt still fits. Valentín De Luca is back at Defensores, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Benjamín Escobar comes home

The shirt still fits. Benjamín Escobar is back at Defensores, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Matías Gómez 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.

Match

Defensores get the job done against Gimnasia y Esgrima

A 3‑1 win over Gimnasia y Esgrima, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Joaquín Tonet in the eights

A performance of 9.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Enzo Villalba

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Caro

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

163 Edition

The Defensores Post

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Franco Caro asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

No end in sight to Defensores's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Defensores has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Franco Caro runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Estudiantes take the points off Defensores

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Bautista González 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.

Player ratings

Bautista González in the eights

A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Dilan Acosta

“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.

Squad

Facundo Centurión lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Squad

A first senior shirt for Enzo Figueroa

Every debut is a small story about the future: Enzo Figueroa, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.

In brief

161 Edition

The Defensores Post

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lorenzo Cores hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Defensores can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Ezequiel Aguirre runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Catriel Monochio 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.

Match

Defensores come up short against Central Norte

Central Norte left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

One of those days for Franco Sassone

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Lorenzo Cores

“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.

Squad

Enzo Villalba left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Enzo Villalba will call it something else in private.

Squad

Raúl Romano stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Raúl Romano and Defensores agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Nicolás Borsotti

Marked 5.44, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

155 Edition

The Defensores Post

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nicolás Vidal asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Facundo Centurión

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Defensores say no — this time

The offer from Gimnasia y Tiro for Juan Carlos Ortiz 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.

Player ratings

Dilan Acosta shuts the door

Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Tempers go at Defensores

Nicolás Vidal 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ezequiel Aguirre

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Juan Monteagudo

“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.

Match

Defensores and Temperley cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Temperley came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Juan Monteagudo

A mark of 5.55 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

145 Edition

The Defensores Post

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Lautaro Daus

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Dilan Acosta puts it in writing

“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 Defensores, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ian Pérez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Enzo González

Marked 8.76 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

The month belongs to Ivan Borges

The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Defensores have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.

Loan watch

Matías Gómez has seen enough of Austin FC

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Defensores, and 0 appearances in 0 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

No hiding place for Nicolás Borsotti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Borsotti, and the manager let it.

Match

Defensores share the spoils with San Telmo

A 1‑1 draw with San Telmo leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Ezequiel Aguirre runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

144 Edition

The Defensores Post

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Nicolás Vidal asks to leave Defensores

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Agustín Benítez

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Market

Austin FC watching Matías Gómez

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Defensores have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Francisco Tcherkaski in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Defensores this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Defensores find a way past Central Norte

Central Norte made Defensores work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ezequiel Aguirre runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Francisco Tcherkaski

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Nicolás Vidal

Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Franco Sassone 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.

In brief