The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around San Telmo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín González is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Morón waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Telmo 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑3 against Defensores Unidos, 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Luis Montilla has come up in conversations San Telmo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Baldunciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martín Peralta after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
0‑3 to Sacachispas, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everybody at San Telmo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Salerno provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Dinocco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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 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.
“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 dugout22 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Martín Peralta kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Franco Aguirre 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 Lucas Baldunciel 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 Telmo know it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at San Telmo 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Matías Salerno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at San Telmo, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martín Peralta after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutDylan Fernández is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutRomán Gamarra has become a man the manager trusts
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Elías Brítez decided nobody was going anywhere. Sportivo Italiano had no time left to answer.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matías Salerno 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Dinocco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Baigorria. 2‑1 against Argentino de Merlo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Elías Brítez 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martín Peralta after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
Something was said to Román Gamarra and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A 1‑0 win over Ferrocarril Midland, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I watch every San Telmo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bali United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
1 for Elías Brítez, marked 7.77, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every San Telmo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Málaga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Franco Aguirre 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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jerónimo Porto Lapegüe provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Martín Peralta was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the San Telmo dressing room was either.
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Ivo Molinari decided nobody was going anywhere. Central Norte had no time left to answer.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ivo Molinari 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín González 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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Juan Motroni was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
“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 Telmo know it.
Matías Salerno and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.17, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Baigorria. 2‑1 against Villa San Carlos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jerónimo Porto Lapegüe has his answer from San Telmo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Matías Salerno
Marked 7.14 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Elías Brítez 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Montilla, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Martín Peralta left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franco Aguirre trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Salerno signs something — a contract at San Telmo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Elías Brítez 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 Martín González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martín Peralta after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“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 Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at San Telmo is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Telmo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín González is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Telmo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Add another name to the list: JIPPO have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexis Orellano. The answer from San Telmo has not changed — yet.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Martín Rodríguez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pedro Arias is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín González 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Facundo Blasco 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
65 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Telmo could ask drops and the wages Rodrigo Dinocco can ask rise.
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 Telmo would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Dante Capriati on the training pitch
Matías Salerno 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.
San Telmo asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Máximo Munarriz 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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nicolás Baigorria may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
The deal that would have taken Luis Montilla to San Martín has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to San Telmo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín González 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luis Montilla has his answer from San Telmo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The offer from Almagro for Facundo Blasco was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Almirante Brown, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
San Telmo asked and All Boys 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 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Agropecuario Argentino have kept their man, and San Telmo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Máximo Munarriz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Banfield waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Telmo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Elías Brítez 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.
San Telmo asked and Chaco For Ever said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
14 shut-outs in 41 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Juan Pablo Rial has been having a lot of them.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Dinocco 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Telmo has been clear about where Rodrigo Dinocco stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iñaki Larthirigoyen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 38. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at San Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Elías Brítez, marked 7.63, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franco Tassitani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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.
93 minutes played. Franco Tassitani found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Comunicaciones went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Franco Tassitani did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
7 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matías Salerno 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Telmo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Minute 87, against Excursionistas, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
6 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Elías Brítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Luis Montilla 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.
13 clean sheets from 39 appearances at Villa Dálmine. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Baldunciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Elías Brítez 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every San Telmo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fafe runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
5 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
38 appearances at Villa Dálmine and the goals have stopped going in. San Telmo lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Marked 7.36 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, San Telmo had the best player on the pitch.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lázaro Brítez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at San Telmo 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at San Telmo can tell you which week it ends in.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Máximo Munarriz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Joel González is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gabriel Paredes 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.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
Nobody left the San Telmo 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Luis Montilla knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“I did not go to Fafe to sit and watch. I want to come back to San Telmo and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Martín Peralta left the room before anybody could ask which.
Matías Salerno 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lázaro Brítez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Brown de Adrogué.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iñaki Larthirigoyen signs something — a contract at San Telmo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Facundo Blasco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
57 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luis Montilla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑1 to Flandria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel 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.
“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 dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Martín Peralta left the room before anybody could ask which.
10 clean sheets from 34 appearances at Villa Dálmine. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Real Pilar will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. San Telmo were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Salerno provided it, and the 9.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Real Pilar tried to reorganise, San Telmo did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Telmo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franco Tassitani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Elías Brítez 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at San Telmo, and 2 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Martín Peralta left the room before anybody could ask which.
Argentino de Merlo will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. San Telmo were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The phone has started ringing about Iñaki Larthirigoyen again, and this time the name on the line is Astana. San Telmo are listening politely and promising nothing.
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Everybody at San Telmo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Matías Salerno 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.
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Javier Iritier at his very best
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luis Montilla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at San Telmo and a proper look at me.” He remains Fafe’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Máximo Munarriz is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Lázaro Brítez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Laureano Romero has his answer from San Telmo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutDylan Fernández is still being punished for one mistake
Position 3, 51 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Roble will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gabriel Paredes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at San Telmo, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The name of Matías Salerno has come up in conversations San Telmo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
1 for Elías Brítez, marked 7.43, 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iñaki Larthirigoyen, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Martín Peralta to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Máximo Munarriz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Telmo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 watch every San Telmo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fafe runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at San Telmo now.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lázaro Brítez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Telmo 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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Telmo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nueva Chicago have kept their man, and San Telmo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Iñaki Larthirigoyen reports back to San Telmo with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“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 Telmo, 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 Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Elías Brítez 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Mario Miranda has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 for Elías Brítez, marked 7.67, 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
San Telmo close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 26 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franco Tassitani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Telmo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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 Telmo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around San Telmo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
0‑1 to Dock Sud, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renzo Uriburu 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.
In brief
MatchAfter 4 games, San Telmo finally taste it again
BoardroomWages swallow 110% of the San Telmo income
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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 Telmo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
1 for Gabriel Paredes, marked 7.86, 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Juan Motroni falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nueva Chicago have kept their man, and San Telmo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Telmo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Telmo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. San Telmo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 3, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Telmo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. All Boys moved on, Maximiliano Campos reports back to San Telmo, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Elías Brítez 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Telmo 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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and All Boys waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Telmo is running low.
Elías Brítez 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. Central Córdoba SdE have kept their man, and San Telmo go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Telmo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Telmo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Estudiantes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Excursionistas left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Juan Motroni falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martín Batallini provided it, and the 8.94 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 Telmo 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 Telmo 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 Telmo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around San Telmo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 3, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Bentonit Ijevan for Valentín Matlis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Telmo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Elías Brítez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Matías Salerno 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Telmo 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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Elías Brítez, marked 7.80, 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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.97 for the rest of it.
Elías Brítez 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 Lucas Baldunciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Villa San Carlos left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 May 2027
Juan Motroni falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against UAI Urquiza in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The mood at San Telmo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renzo Uriburu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
1 for Juan Yangali, marked 7.92, 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.
Elías Brítez 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.
A 2‑0 win over Flandria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni 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 Telmo is running low.
Elías Brítez 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iñaki Larthirigoyen. 2‑0 against Real Pilar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad3 May 2027
Juan Motroni falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8.05. 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.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Motroni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martín Peralta after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Aguirre, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Juan Motroni is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Renzo Uriburu is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 7.56, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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 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.
8.14. 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martín Batallini provided it, and the 8.98 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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
Elías Brítez 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 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Facundo Báez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Motroni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every San Telmo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fafe runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Elías Brítez 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexis Orellano is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Javier Iritier has come out of that comparison in the side, and San Telmo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Martín Peralta after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“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 Telmo 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Telmo told Juan Motroni something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Yangali signs something — a contract at San Telmo 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.
“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 Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The mood at San Telmo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Elías Brítez 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.
Fénix left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Juan Motroni falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at San Telmo, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
1 for Renzo Uriburu, marked 7.68, 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.
7.77, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Elías Brítez 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Telmo 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at San Telmo heard it as anything else.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.30 — 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The offer from Wuhan Three Towns for Luis Montilla was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
“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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the San Telmo 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renzo Uriburu 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.
Elías Brítez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A 2‑1 win over Sportivo Italiano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Marked 7.96 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, San Telmo had the best player on the pitch.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Renzo Uriburu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Martín Peralta kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
8 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.
The offer from Niki Volos for Facundo Blasco was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Elías Brítez 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at San Telmo
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cóndor has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renzo Uriburu 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 a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Elías Brítez has moved up 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Meizhou Hakka for Ivo Molinari was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Renzo Uriburu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to Villa Dálmine to sit and watch. I want to come back to San Telmo and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Elías Brítez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Joaquín Enrico 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at San Telmo heard it as anything else.
Joaquín Enrico 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Telmo is running low.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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 bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Unión de Santa Fe paid $61.0K and San Telmo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Add another name to the list: Inter de Limeira have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Luis Montilla. The answer from San Telmo has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonel Pollacchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Joaquín Enrico has come up in conversations San Telmo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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.
“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 Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Telmo has been clear about where Martín Batallini stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Juan Motroni a promise
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Salerno, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renzo Uriburu 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Telmo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at San Telmo that is a harder question to answer.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Valentín Matlis has written the date down.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Marítimo de La Guaira for Juan Pablo Rial was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonel Pollacchi 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juan Motroni has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Leonel Pollacchi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Javier Iritier trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Boardroom$425.0K taken back off the San Telmo table
The dugoutFacundo Blasco has become a man the manager trusts
BoardroomOpen for business: San Telmo enter the window
18Edition
The San Telmo Gazette
30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at San Telmo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Baldunciel 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Elías Brítez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“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 Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Cruz Zurbriggen signs something — a contract at San Telmo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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.
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Máximo Munarriz 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Enrico is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Telmo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Telmo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luis Alberto Ríos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nacho has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Liam Pereyra is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Baldunciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Telmo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lucas Baldunciel has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Renzo Uriburu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutElías Brítez is still being punished for one mistake
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Telmo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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 Matías Salerno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
16 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.
In brief
The dugoutJuan Yangali asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutMatías Ledesma has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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.
At 39, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Baldunciel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexis Orellano is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iñaki Larthirigoyen, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Renzo Uriburu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fabián Henríquez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Yangali signs something — a contract at San Telmo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Telmo has been clear about where Maximiliano Campos stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Facundo Blasco is on it.
1‑4 against San Martín SJ, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Juan Yangali
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Telmo can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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 Juan Motroni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
16 new faces, and San Telmo 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.
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.
It needed Juan Cruz Zurbriggen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Defensores Unidos, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“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 Telmo can pretend not to have heard.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Yangali's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Máximo Munarriz 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.
“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 Telmo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Salerno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Something was said to Juan Cruz Zurbriggen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Martín Peralta to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Motroni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juan Motroni has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Máximo Munarriz has come out of that comparison in the side, and San Telmo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Talleres in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Telmo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Casas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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.
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and San Telmo are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Juan Yangali
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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 Juan Motroni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Martín Peralta to a room that had heard them before.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Leonel Pollacchi'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.
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 Matías Ledesma is on it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Facundo Blasco did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.87 for the rest of 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 Telmo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between San Telmo and Ferro Carril Oeste, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
Three points for San Telmo, 1‑0 the final word against Nueva Chicago in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni 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.
Juan Cruz Zurbriggen 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Alejandro Ortiz has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eduardo Silva is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luis Alberto Muñoz has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bruno Marino has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonel Pollacchi 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.
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.50 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether San Telmo can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Facundo Roncaglia 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Estudiantes made San Telmo work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at San Telmo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Motroni 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.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
16 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.