“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 The request is on a desk at Argentino de Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bruno Galván 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Román Barreto 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.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Argentino de Quilmes had all but put away. San Martín de Burzaco will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It needed Joel Martínez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against San Martín de Burzaco, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Noah Flores was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Argentino de Quilmes dressing room was either.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Argentino de Quilmes told Dayro Peña something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Enzo Diez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Argentino de Quilmes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Franco Sosa 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 Román Barreto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Dock Sud scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Two goals and a mark of 8.03 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Argentino de Quilmes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 2‑0 win over Sacachispas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Noah Flores, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Demián Núñez
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Lucio Nadalín 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 dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Noah Flores left the room before anybody could ask which.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dayro Peña has his answer from Argentino de Quilmes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Argentino de Quilmes, another week without a signature from Agustín Cecconato.
“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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Argentino de Quilmes until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Banfield is saying, and nobody at Argentino de Quilmes is enjoying the guessing.
Bruno Galván 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 had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.
11 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.” Noah Flores after 1‑2, 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.
Nobody at Argentino de Quilmes 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Villa San Carlos in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
10 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.
Franco Sosa 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 Enzo Zárate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Enzo Zárate’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Argentino de Quilmes needing him to play as if none of it matters.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Argentino de Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Benavídez 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.
6 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucio Nadalín, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Noah Flores was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Argentino de Quilmes dressing room was either.
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.
0‑3 to Sacachispas, 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Argentino de Quilmes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Franco Sosa 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 Enzo Zárate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Noah Flores to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Román Barreto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Argentino de Quilmes has been clear about where Martiniano Compagnucci stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Román Barreto 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sacachispas in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.94 beside his name.
Franco Sosa 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 had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Noah Flores could afford to be generous.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Argentino de Quilmes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Franco Sosa 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 had been thinking. Enzo Zárate 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 at Argentino de Quilmes 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Argentino de Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ezequiel Madariaga has come up in conversations Argentino de Quilmes were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Román Barreto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Argentino de Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Argentino de Quilmes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Everything agreed with Gimnasia y Esgrima, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Franco Sosa 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Lucio Nadalín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Martiniano Compagnucci is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Argentino de Quilmes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Leandro Guzmán 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Enzo Zárate 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dayro Peña, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Noah Flores left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Villa Dálmine in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.