Juan José Heinze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Tomás Lezcano 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.
Juan José Heinze 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 easiest signature of my career.” Pedro Báez and General Caballero JLM agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Lezcano 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 General Caballero JLM, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Tomás Lezcano 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. Bruno López 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 General Caballero JLM 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at General Caballero JLM. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
$8.0K on the table at River Plate. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
General Caballero JLM asked and Olimpia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Deportivo Capiata; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at General Caballero JLM 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.
Tomás Lezcano 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.
A mark of 7.97, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Derlis Fernandez kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno López 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.
Guairena next, and one man in the General Caballero JLM dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” General Caballero JLM have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at General Caballero JLM 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 Tomás Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Vargas and General Caballero JLM agree another 2 years.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. General Caballero JLM lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nahuel Arias 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 Tomás Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at General Caballero JLM 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Roland Escobar’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and General Caballero JLM needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at General Caballero JLM. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutJulio Cañete knocks on the manager's door
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. General Caballero JLM lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at General Caballero JLM 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 Pedro Báez 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.” Derlis Fernandez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at General Caballero JLM 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. General Caballero JLM lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Tomás Lezcano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Pedro Báez 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonio Balbuena has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Derlis Fernandez could afford to be generous.
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 Héctor Espínola is on it.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. General Caballero JLM lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Lezcano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nahuel Arias 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.
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.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at General Caballero JLM has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at General Caballero JLM this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between General Caballero JLM and Encarnacion, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Pedro Báez scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Encarnacion, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Pedro Báez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cerro Porteno have kept their man, and General Caballero JLM go back to a list with one name crossed off it.