Santiago Hezze 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Something was said to Tomás Adoryan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Banfield, another week without a signature from Juan Luis Alfaro.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout25 Oct 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 0‑1 Liam Ponce left the room before anybody could ask which.
14 appearances at Vélez and the goals have stopped going in. Banfield lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Banfield lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Marked 6.77 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“I watch every Banfield game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Laferrere runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Liam Ponce after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield 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 Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Banfield heard it as anything else.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Enzo Colque has agreed terms with Tigre for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almagro will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Juan Fernándes Pinto has pre-agreed a move to Banfield, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Oscar Martinez 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. 38 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Sarmiento had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 39 matches say the rest.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Banfield is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“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; Banfield are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Santiago Hezze 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.
“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 Banfield, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Hezze 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 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 did not go to Deportivo La Coruña to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lautaro Gómez has his answer from Banfield; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Gómez is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Gianfranco Livia has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Belgrano left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Erick Cabaco's mistake
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
Player ratingsErick Cabaco could not find anything
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
At 21 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.
“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 Banfield, and 9 appearances in 35 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
Marcos Escobar 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Thiago Cano has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Santiago Hezze 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 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.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Banfield people have started saying his name in the past tense.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Banfield ran out of time with Vélez. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Banfield lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Santiago López García provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Banfield have done the hard part with Vélez, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 5 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Banfield 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Valentino Álvarez has agreed terms with Deportivo Armenio for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Banfield have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Banfield know it.
Santiago Hezze 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 Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Agustín Méndez is 20, and Banfield have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Banfield hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Tobías Astorga has agreed terms with Independiente Rivadavia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Banfield have gone to Belgrano with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
Add another name to the list: Boston River have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Renzo Malanca. The answer from Banfield has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“I did not go to Deportivo La Coruña to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 24 matches say the rest.
The words a physio says slowly. 141 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Real Pilar for Renzo Malanca 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.
The phone has started ringing about Juan Manuel Cruz again, and this time the name on the line is Alcorcón. Banfield are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tomás Adoryan 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Manuel Cruz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Banfield 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
Santiago Hezze 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 Jun 2027
Erick Cabaco 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. Gimnasia y Esgrima have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Hezze 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 Erick Cabaco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Banfield lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Banfield people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
$490.0K settles it between the clubs for Mateo Morro
Independiente have accepted the money. What Banfield do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Santiago Hezze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tomás Adoryan 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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Banfield will try not to make too much of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Banfield 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Tomás Adoryan 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Elías Alderete trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Banfield 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Banfield will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Ignacio Pais is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Liam Ponce after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Oscar Martinez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Santiago Hezze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“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.
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 Alexander Machado is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Banfield can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Deportivo La Coruña to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oscar Martinez. 1‑0 against Rosario Central, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsTomás Adoryan beats them one at a time
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutRenzo Malanca has become a man the manager trusts
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Santiago Hezze 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Racing tried to reorganise, Banfield did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“I watch every Banfield game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Laferrere runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Elías Alderete trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Liam Ponce after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Oscar Martinez did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oscar Martinez. 1‑0 against Sarmiento, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erick Cabaco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sarmiento next, and one man in the Banfield dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Banfield, another week without a signature from Ignacio Pais.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Renzo Malanca is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Santiago López García 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 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 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.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
“I watch every Banfield game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Laferrere runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout22 Mar 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 1‑2 Liam Ponce left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Inter Turku for Lucas Palavecino 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Banfield know it.
14 combined actions and 6.77. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Banfield can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Santiago Hezze had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Barracas Central were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Santiago Hezze scored, was marked 7.67, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
9 combined actions and 6.78. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.” Liam Ponce after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Banfield 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 David Zalazar’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Banfield needing him to play as if none of it matters.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Banfield has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Manuel Cruz. 2‑1 against Mitre, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bruno Pérez 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Mateo Peralta has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Banfield than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Nobody at Banfield 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexander Machado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Santiago Hezze 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 Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Jan 2027
8 new faces, and Banfield 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.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Argentinos Juniors have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Banfield will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Adoryan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The offer from Eibar for Agustín Módica 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Renzo Malanca is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Santiago Hezze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Módica 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.
Banfield ran out of time with Atlanta. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Banfield had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Banfield have done the hard part with Atlanta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Banfield hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ángel Stringa is living that version at Banfield, and it tends to show in the first month.
Santiago Hezze 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 Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Banfield asked and Defensa y Justicia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Banfield have paid $15.7M for Santiago Hezze, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
$4.2M was the most the club would pay and Gimnasia La Plata were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Banfield have gone to Lanús with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arsenal have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Santiago Hezze was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $15.7M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Banfield lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer went to Olympiacos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer went to Gimnasia La Plata this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Banfield had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The chase for Enzo Galli ended with $1.6M changing hands and Patronato out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jeifer Nontoa has agreed terms with Sacachispas for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ramiro Montoya is living that version at Banfield, and it tends to show in the first month.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Brown de Adrogué waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Banfield is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Lisandro Piñero has gone, the accounts have $3.7M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Everything agreed with Patronato, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Banfield have paid $1.9M for Agustín Módica, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Olimpia paid $3.7M and Banfield took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Banfield will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Renzo Malanca is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gimnasia La Plata have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Banfield have gone to Gimnasia y Esgrima with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer from Unión San Felipe for Joaquín Molina 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $113.8K — a club that wants Enzo Galli enough to be asked twice.
Banfield have gone to Patronato with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Villegas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Zalazar 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 Banfield 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.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ignacio Pais 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Banfield 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 Banfield. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Banfield can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Diego Fagúndez 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Banfield 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Banfield. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joaquín Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield 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 Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Banfield told Nehuén Paz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Banfield can tell you which week it ends in.
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Lautaro Ríos 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 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 dugout2 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 0‑3 Liam Ponce left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
Juergen Elitím 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tomás Adoryan 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.
Something was said to Santiago Esquivel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Augusto Kalayda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Diego Fagúndez 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 Adoryan 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Valentín Delfino has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renzo Malanca commits to Banfield for another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Pais 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Banfield 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 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Rosario Central in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Federico Ricca has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Banfield have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Lisandro Piñero 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.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Zalazar 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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Lisandro Piñero is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Nobody at Banfield 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Augusto Kalayda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Renzo Malanca is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. José Canale has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Banfield have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Pais 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.” Liam Ponce after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Rosario Central go through and Banfield go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Banfield is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Joaquín Molina has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tomás Adoryan 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.
14 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Liam Ponce to a room that had heard them before.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tomás Adoryan 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lisandro Piñero is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Banfield 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Lisandro Piñero, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Matías Hernández 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Pais was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
1 for Ignacio Pais, marked 7.59, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erick Cabaco 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lautaro Gómez 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Augusto Kalayda has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Augusto Kalayda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Diego Fagúndez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erick Cabaco 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.
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.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad17 Aug 2026
14 new faces, and Banfield 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.
The dugout17 Aug 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 1‑3 Liam Ponce left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Erick Cabaco has, at Banfield, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
At 33 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Diego Fagúndez 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juergen Elitím. 3‑2 against Atlético Tucumán, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Barracas Central spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Juan Manuel Cruz is a Banfield player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Santiago López García 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Lisandro Piñero 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Tomás Adoryan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.