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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Santiago Martínez 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.
Marked 9.56. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at San Miguel.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Benítez 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 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 San Miguel know it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Iván Vidal 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.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.29 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Marked 7.72 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
He is 22 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Miguel has been clear about where Maximiliano Puig stands, which is more than many ever get.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.98, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
480 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at San Miguel can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
San Miguel 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑5 to Sacachispas, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Instituto have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom21 Jul 2036
San Miguel close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Matías Benítez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Esteban Zurita provided it, and the 8.26 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. San Miguel have done the hard part with Aldosivi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensa y Justicia have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Esteban Zurita. 2‑0 against Talleres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Güemes will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. San Miguel were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings7 Jul 2036
A brace, and Iván Vidal takes the afternoon — 9.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iván Vidal provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Esteban Zurita provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel 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 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Unión de Santa Fe, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 San Miguel know it.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 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 San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Argentinos Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Walid Khalfan scored in the 88th minute, Liniers had already begun thinking about the journey home, and San Miguel took the lot.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.99 beside his name.
Matías Benítez 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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Walid Khalfan 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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Miguel told Oleh Karavayev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until João Mendes signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Villa San Carlos; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom19 May 2036
Nobody left the San Miguel dressing room in a hurry
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 dugout19 May 2036
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
A 1‑0 win over Defensores, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings12 May 2036
Esteban Zurita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
The dugout12 May 2036
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
7 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.48 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match3 May 2036
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for San Miguel. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
A 3‑1 win over Central Norte, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A 1‑0 win over Tristán Suárez, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 May 2036
Esteban Zurita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at San Miguel, another week without a signature from Jeremías Kruger.
In brief
The dugoutOleh Karavayev dropped after a run of poor form
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
A brace, and Walid Khalfan takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Walid Khalfan provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Walid Khalfan 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.
Match26 Apr 2036
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for San Miguel. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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 San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“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 San Miguel know it.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The words a physio says slowly. 128 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. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Iván Medina has his answer from San Miguel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel 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 San Miguel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Benítez signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutLeonardo Varela has become a man the manager trusts
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Iván Vidal 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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel 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 Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Boardroom17 Mar 2036
217% of the income goes out in wages at San Miguel
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Matías Benítez 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.
“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 San Miguel know it.
The club is in the hands of administrators, 9 points have gone off the table, and no signing may be made until further notice. Everything this season was about was decided in a room nobody from the ground was sitting in.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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 shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
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 Capo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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 club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
0‑4 against Sacachispas, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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 Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Beaten 4 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom18 Feb 2036
206% of the income goes out in wages at San Miguel
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iván Vidal. 1‑0 against Argentino de Quilmes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Miguel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Matías Benítez 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.
Day 10 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The supervision lifts, the embargo goes with it, and the club can sign a player again. Nobody involved wants to describe the year it took, and nobody involved will forget it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Alvarado will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Player ratings4 Feb 2036
A brace, and Iván Vidal takes the afternoon — 8.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iván Vidal provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Miguel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at San Miguel would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Miguel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
12 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.
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.
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 Joaquín Rivero is on it.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Miguel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
Santiago Martínez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at San Miguel, another week without a signature from Santiago Martínez.
Alejandro Aquino arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Joaquín Rivero’s negotiating for him
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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 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.
Dock Sud will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jordan Rezabala has pre-agreed a move to San Miguel, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Miguel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
The phone has started ringing about Matías Benítez again, and this time the name on the line is Barracas Central. San Miguel are listening politely and promising nothing.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Tigre, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Independiente is saying, and nobody at San Miguel is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
San Miguel asked and Banfield 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
San Miguel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
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.
San Miguel asked and Boca Juniors 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 is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Valentín Cabrejas's mistake
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emiliano Tejera provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Lanús is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Matías Benítez 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 Esteban Zurita 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. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Argentinos Juniors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Emiliano Tejera 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.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Unión de Santa Fe have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Miguel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lucas Ricciotti. 1‑0 against Quilmes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at San Miguel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
1 for Maximiliano Puig, marked 7.74, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Iván Vidal 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“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; San Miguel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Daniel Sappa
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
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.
Nobody at San Miguel 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Miguel could ask drops and the wages Álex de Freitas can ask rise.
82 graduates, from a department now rated 4 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emiliano Tejera provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
2‑3 to Deportivo Armenio, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Nov 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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 medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Franco Cohen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
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 2‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
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 Joaquín Rivero is on 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 San Miguel 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“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; San Miguel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation San Miguel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Maximiliano Puig is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“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.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Miguel has been clear about where Juan Tobón stands, which is more than many ever get.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Esteban Zurita has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
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 San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Joaquín Rivero is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Miguel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at San Miguel has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals in one match, Iván Vidal on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of San Miguel and Villa San Carlos.
Iván Vidal scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Villa San Carlos, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Miguel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Matías Benítez 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 Sep 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
6 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Miguel told Pedro Luna something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: João Mendes. 3‑1 against Central Norte, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Miguel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Matías Benítez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“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 San Miguel know it.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until João Mendes signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at San Miguel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Two goals and a mark of 8.95 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 San Miguel 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 San Miguel 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 344% of everything San Miguel earn
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. San Miguel will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximiliano Alaniz, and the manager let it.
Squad27 Aug 2035
6 new faces, and San Miguel 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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 Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Two goals and a mark of 8.17 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.
He is 22 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.
0‑3 against Ferrocarril Midland, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Matías Benítez 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.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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 upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newell's Old Boys have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 22 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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. San Miguel were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
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.
Squad30 Jul 2035
6 new faces, and San Miguel 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.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Matías Benítez, marked 7.98, 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed 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 San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, João Mendes on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of San Miguel and Argentino de Quilmes.
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Instituto; San Miguel go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Emiliano Tejera 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.18, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Two goals and a mark of 8.62 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Benítez provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything was agreed with Lanús and then the doctor spoke. San Miguel have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
San Miguel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matías Benítez 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about San Miguel and Güemes in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 deal with Lanús is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita 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. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Esteban Zurita. 3‑2 against Quilmes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita 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. Independiente have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Matías Benítez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Barracas Central have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Central Córdoba SdE, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Gimnasia y Tiro were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
A 3‑1 win over Gimnasia y Tiro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita 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. Independiente have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
5 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.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with San Lorenzo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matías Benítez 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.
San Miguel asked and Lanús said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Boardroom338% of the income goes out in wages at San Miguel
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
San Miguel asked and San Lorenzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Argentinos Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Central Córdoba SdE have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel 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.” San Miguel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Emiliano Tejera 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 Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 San Miguel know it.
Boardroom28 May 2035
Nobody left the San Miguel dressing room in a hurry
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 dugout28 May 2035
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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.
“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.
The dugout21 May 2035
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout21 May 2035
Somebody else is better right now than Haris Okafor
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matías Benítez 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lucas Ricciotti has his answer from San Miguel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexandro Pérez has his answer from San Miguel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It needed Esteban Zurita to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Central Norte, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Chances created: 10. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tristán Suárez defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel 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 San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
A 2‑1 win over Agropecuario Argentino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Cristian Ríos 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.
“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 San Miguel know it.
Independiente go through and San Miguel go home, 0‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It finished 0-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 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 San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matías Benítez 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Miguel has been clear about where Roberto Romano stands, which is more than many ever get.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 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 San Miguel 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Claudio Sanchez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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 Haris Okafor is on 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 San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Miguel could ask drops and the wages Cristian Ríos can ask rise.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
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 8.48 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Miguel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Benicio Peralta has his answer from San Miguel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Mar 2035
Benicio Peralta, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05
A mark of 8.05 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
At 19 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daniel Sappa
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.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about San Miguel and Deportivo Laferrere in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 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 San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2035
Nobody left the San Miguel dressing room in a hurry
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Miguel told Roberto Romano something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel 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 San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Álex de Freitas, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Miguel has been clear about where Simon Embolo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. San Miguel scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Nicola Bellini has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means San Miguel have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
This is the morning a town finds out what the accounts have been doing while it watched the football. The debt gets written down to something payable, and the football pays for it in points.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Alvarado will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. San Miguel were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 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.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until João Mendes signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Miguel could ask drops and the wages Alexandro Pérez can ask rise.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel 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 San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
Matías Benítez 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“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 San Miguel know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
San Miguel asked and San Lorenzo 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 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniel Sappa signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The supervision lifts, the embargo goes with it, and the club can sign a player again. Nobody involved wants to describe the year it took, and nobody involved will forget it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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. Talleres have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
5 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.
Álex de Freitas arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emiliano Tejera signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Talleres, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
San Miguel asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emiliano Tejera 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. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Miguel is running low.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Lanús, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Miguel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
San Miguel asked and Argentinos Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel 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 San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Miguel have done the hard part with Argentinos Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sarmiento have kept their man, and San Miguel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Miguel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 65 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
Player ratingsEzequiel Quiroga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Miguel 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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matías Benítez 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.
At 20 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Nov 2034
312% of the income goes out in wages at San Miguel
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“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.
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 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 San Miguel know 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 San Miguel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what San Miguel could get for him.
The terraces20 Nov 2034
Supporters make their feelings known about João Mendes
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. San Miguel would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and San Miguel will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Miguel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Gimnasia y Tiro were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
A 3‑1 win over Gimnasia y Tiro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
13 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings13 Nov 2034
João Mendes was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. 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.
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
“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 San Miguel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matías Benítez 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.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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.
The dugout6 Nov 2034
The manager has not finished forgetting Emiliano Núñez'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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation San Miguel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1‑3 to Argentino de Merlo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at San Miguel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esteban Zurita 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Miguel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Matías Benítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Esteban Zurita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniel Sappa signs something — a contract at San Miguel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emiliano Núñez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Next up on the road: Excursionistas, position 5. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Esteban Zurita’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at San Miguel
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Miguel can pretend not to have heard.
Matías Benítez 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.
Marked 7.20 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom2 Oct 2034
The silence upstairs is getting loud at San Miguel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Miguel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad2 Oct 2034
7 new faces, and San Miguel 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.