Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sebastián da Silva. 3‑1 against Cerro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Racing, and 0 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álex Vázquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Kevin Bentancur could afford to be generous.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bautista Tomatis 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.
Racing asked and Talleres said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Axel Atum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Guillermo Cotugno is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Racing had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vélez, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vélez have kept their man, and Racing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Álex Vázquez 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Manuel Ayala again, and this time the name on the line is Rocha. Racing are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín De la Cuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Álex Vázquez 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.
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
The dugoutRodrigo Gadea knocks on the manager’s door
José Varela 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín De la Cuesta 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kevin Bentancur was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Racing dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. River Plate defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at Racing is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
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.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Racing was different afterwards.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 106th minute. Platense will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 7 of the 34 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Iván Manzur did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.93, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Iván Manzur has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
José Varela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Axel Atum 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Bautista Tomatis.
Still no offer on the table, and Esteban da Silva’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
25 new faces, and Racing are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Kevin Bentancur after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.